Do you love film? Do you love Russia? If the answers are “yes” and “yes” — a film festival opening today may be right up your alley.
The “Echo of the Unicorns” festival is the Russian edition of Russian Film Week held in London, where every year the best films made about Russia or on Russia-related themes receive the Golden Unicorn award. This year 13 foreign films — seven feature films, five documentary and one animated documentary — that were nominated or won a Golden Unicorn are being shown from Tuesday through Sunday at the Oktyabr Theater in Moscow and the Okhta Theater in St. Petersburg.
The films include “Polina,” about the trials and triumphs of a Russian dancer in France directed by Valérie Müller and Angelin Preljocaj, and “The Chronicles of Melanie,” a 2016 Latvian film directed by Viestur Kairish about the deportation of Latvians to Siberia in 1941. But there are slightly lighter films, too, like “Moscow Never Sleeps” by Johnny O’Reilly or the documentary “Oleg and the Strange Arts” about Russian pianist Oleg Karavaychuk, directed by Andrés Duque.
The films will be shown in the language of the original with Russian subtitles, except for “Moscow Never Sleeps,” which will be shown in Russian with English subtitles.
For more information about schedule and ticket purchase, see the Karo Film site or The Moscow Times cinema listings.