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Andrey PLakhov, a journalist from "Weekend" magazine commented that the sexual revolution has broken out in Russian cinema. This phenomenon has been powered by Russian women film directors. The Kinotavr, the most famous film festival in the CIS, recently presented fourteen films and seven of them were produced by Russian women. One name particularly stood out as quite notable: Kira Muratova. Muratova's major contribution to Russian cinema was the film "Two in One". Svetlana Proskurina and Mariana Razbezhina also have international reputations.
A team of Russian women film directors who participated in the Moscow festival impressed even more. From the three films that were showcased in the recent festival only one was made by a man, who unfortunately passed away recently (Valeriy Ogorodnikov "Fishing"). The other two were produced by way of the accomplished hands of two Russian women - "Traveling with Pets" by Vera Storozheva and "Nothing Personal" by Larisa Sadilova. Both producers received awards: the first won the "Gold George" award and the second one won the "Fipressi" prize.
Less than a quarter of a century ago film making in Russia was considered to be a man's profession, where just a few certain Russian women with a man's character were admitted. At that time, Russian cinema had only Kira Muratova and Larisa Shepitko. There were a few other names in different genres of cinematography, but Russian women were an absolute sexual minority in the profession.
Today the feminization of Russian cinema is going apace. More than two thirds of the graduates from film making schools are women. But is this a good thing for Russian cinema? Maybe, maybe not. Everyone agrees it is an issue, but it is also a fact. Simply look at any film festival catalogue and you can be sure of this.
Two questions have arisen. Do Russian women have a different camera vision than Russian men? And if yes, do they compete? The jury at the Kinotavr festival was all men and they completely ignored the films that were produced by women. The only film produced by a woman that got a prize was "A Mermaid" where actress Maria Shalaeva received the prize for the best supporting actress. Do these results confirm a recurring "male chauvinism"? It is accurate to say that in the creative works of Russian men directors of all generations, men's games, themes and plots predominate. And their phallus centric films further explain why we do not have bright young actresses. Even if the great classical actresses of old, such as Margarita Terekhova, Lyudmila Gurchenko or Anastasiya Vertinskaya were to appear, it is a wonder who would have cast them. Have film directors who love Russian women forsaken this love, or have they all simply retired?
But nowadays everything is not so gloomy. The discoverers of new film stars are little by little becoming Russian women film directors. Would Renata Litviniova shine so brightly if she had not been introduced to the cinema universe by Kira Muratova? Vera Storiozheva introduced us to the dramatic possibilities of Polina Kutepova and Tatiana Voronetskaya and gave a new turn to the image of Victoria Tolstoganova. Larisa Sadilova revealed the eccentric talent of Zoya Kaidanovskaya. And Svetlana Proskurina presented several interesting actresses and revived Natalia Sedykh's career, the heroine of the classical film tale "Morozko". She had not been filmed for many years. Also, Renata Litvinova returned Svetlana Svetlichnaya back to the shooting stage as a living myth. She also dedicated to older actresses the documentary film "There is no death for me". And she herself acted with the young Anna Begunova, possibly a future star, in Marina Lubakova's film"Cruelty".
Russian women in cinema are coming. And they will leave nen's cinematography for the history books. If you need an example - go and see "A Mermaid" by Anna Melikyan about a provincial girl struggling to survive in a big cosmopolitan city. "A Mermaid' is the birth of a new film maker. "A Mermaid", is characterized as the Russian "Ameli" because it is also a city tale about a girl from the provinces. It is depicted with tenderness but without sentimentality. Further attempts to compare would fail not only because it is difficult to compare Moscow and Paris realities but also because "Ameli" was shot by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, and "A Mermaid " was shot by a Russian woman. Each of the film directors loves his/her heroine, but it is a different love. The women's love is more principal, sharper but at the same time stronger. It preserves the mysterious nature of the mermaid so close to the dual nature of art.
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