Day School and Public Screening
Sunday 15 March
Every few years the international film community discovers a new director whose films win prizes at festivals and new fans around the world. Andrey Zvyagintsev first attracted attention with The Return in 2003, followed by The Banishment in 2007 and Elena in 2011. The director’s fourth feature Leviathan was one of the most celebrated and controversial films of 2014 and given the current belligerence of the Russian state, Zvyagintsev’s oblique commentaries on Russian society have begun to attract attention in the news media. What makes these films so compelling and distinctive?
This day school will introduce Zvyagintsev as an unusual figure in contemporary cinema who worked for many years as an actor before directing an episode of a television drama series aged 36 in 2000. The move into feature films was rapid and The Return’s award of the Golden Lion in Venice was a reminder of another début win by Tarkovsky’s Ivan’s Childhood in 1962.
Zvyagintsev’s film’s have attracted audiences for three main reasons and these will be the focus of the Day School:
- The stories resonate because of strong characters and universal themes (often with Biblical allusions) – which can also be interpreted in specific Russian contexts.
- Some fruitful collaborations with talented filmmakers to produce a powerful aesthetic appeal in terms of cinematography, music and sound and use of settings and landscape.
- A dedication to the ‘art’ of cinema and an obvious debt to several of the giants of art cinema such as Andrei Tarkovsky as well as an affinity with other contemporary art directors such as Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
The day will include a complete screening of Zvyagintsev’s third feature Elena plus discussion-based sessions with extracts from the other three films and complementary material from Tarkovsky and Ceylan. The screening will be part of our public programme.
The day will run from 10.30 am to 4.30 pm and tickets cost £18 and £15 concessions. Tea and coffee is included in the price, as is the screening of Elena.
It would be helpful to have a rough idea of numbers so please reserve your place on the day school by emailing
Roy StaffordThere will be a short break for lunch before the public screening at 1pm.
Day School Screening
Sunday 15 March, 1pm (This screening is open to the public)
Elena
dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev, Russia 2011 Cert 12, 109 mins, Russian with English subtitles.
In a film about two Russian families, Elena lives in the upmarket apartment of wealthy businessman Vladimir. Across the city in a high-rise block is Elena’s son and his family, including her grandchildren who she wants to support. Elena appears to move between two worlds in modern Russia. The re-appearance of Vladimir’s grown-up daughter, a former ‘wild child’, represents a new challenge for Elena in this moral tale.
‘Sensational’ (Tim Robey, Telegraph)
‘A subtle Russian marvel’ (Peter Bradshaw, Guardian)
‘. . . a compelling comic drama full of tension and irony (Philip French, Observer)
Karla Sangam Arts Centre Bradford
Jenny Agutter needs no introduction. Firmly established as a national treasure she is the star of The Railway Children, An American Werewolf in London and TV’s Call the Midwife. Subject to work commitments she will attend the festival on Saturday, May 9.
Peter Sasdy is the Hungarian-born filmmaker who enjoyed early success with Hammer Films on titles such as Taste the Blood of Dracula and Hands of the Ripper. On TV he scared millions with his classic ghost story The Stone Tape. He will receive an 80th birthday tribute. Peter also attends on May 9.
Mark Herman is the Yorkshire-born writer/director who put the emotion of the miners’ strike into his hit movie Brassed Off. The film was shot in Yorkshire 20 years ago and will receive an anniversary screening in the presence of the director. 
