MELODIA! Discovering Musicals from Russia and the Caucasus

A thrilling season of classic musicals from Russia and the Caucasus, including two special screenings of famed propaganda musical COSSACKS OF THE KUBAN (1949) at the British Film Institute in October 2019 and a main programme at the Ciné Lumière, London, in January 2020 before regional screenings nationwide.

About the Season

Melodia! celebrates the diversity and complexity of Soviet, Russian and Caucasian musicals. It gives UK audiences a unique opportunity to explore an undiscovered musical tradition in the context of the main BFI programme of American and British musicals. Highlights of the season include: COSSACKS OF THE KUBAN (1949) with numbers from famed composer Isaac Dunaevsky which mythologises Soviet prosperity and CHERYOMUSHKI (1963), based on Dmitri Shostakovich‘s operetta of the same name exploring housing shortages in Moscow in the 1950s. It also comprises beloved Soviet classics, such as Eldar Ryazanov’s CARNIVAL NIGHT (1956) alongside HIPSTERS (2008), an optimistic rethinking of Soviet counter-culture of the 1950s, and LETO (2018), directed by recently detained director Kirill Serebrennikov, expemplifying a controversial new nostalgia towards the Perestroika spirit of freedom.