Eastern Europe cinema—Farewell the past!  The questions were asked to Georgy DANELIA, Sergei SOLOVYOV, Mikhail KOZAKOV, Pavel CHUHRAY, Pavel LUNGIN, Alexey POPOGREBSKY, Boris HLEBNIKOV, Ivan DYHOVICHNY, Gennady POLOKA, Alexey MURADOV, Natalia PYANKOVA, Vladimir HOTINENKO, Sergey YURSKY, Sergey URSULYAK, Andrey ZVYAGINTSEV.

If the Eastern Europe cinema played a role in your life? What countries do you prefer? What themes, genres. Directors? How much do you think Eastern Europe cinema depended on Soviet cinema? What films made in the East Europe will remain in the film history and what  of them will be forgotten forever? If it is possible to The Eastern Europe cinema to revive? If it is possible, what must it look like? A group of home film directors, young and more experienced answer the questions before the Archive Film Festival.

«Nobody will make nor “Ashes and Diamonds”, neither “Silence and Cry” once more…». Rond table talk in Belye Stolby, January, 2004.

The central theme of Archive Film Festival «Belye Stolby» in 2004 in discussion that took place there was Eastern Europe cinema. It was suggested by future joining by the states to the European Union that was valued by our film explorers and critics as a sign to say good bye to the Great Postwar Eastern Europe cinema, as we got used to recognize for a half of century.

Miron CHERNENKO: «Let them be groun up in new Europe, let us be groun up in new Russia...» Last intervew.

The talk took place in January, 2004 and was recorded for television to continue the discussion on tomorrow day of the Eastern Europe cinema.

 

The book that was waited for twenty years (Alexandre Troshin).

Miron CHERNENKO. Kazimierz Kutz.

The posthumous publication of the book by outstanding Russian film explorer dedicated to creations of famous director, one of the participants of glorious «Polish School». The book was written in early 80-ies and for twenty years was waiting for publication in Russian (it was published in one of Polish magazines).

 

Ivette BÍRÓ. Saying Good Bye to epoch.

Ivette Bíró is an aesthetic and film critic. Once she was an editor in chief of Hungarian magazine «Filmcultura». In 1976 she left Hungary and taught in universities in USA and in Europe. Now she is professor of Cinema and TV Institute in New-York University. The articles were written after Velvet revolutions in 1980–90-ies and sum the passed epoch in national cinematographies in the region. 

Mira, Antonin LIEHM. The Most Important Art: Eastern European Film After 1945. Chapters from the book.

            – The Most Important Art.

            – Cinema and state reasons: Romania after 1963

            – A miracle and a young wave: Czechoslovakia after 1963

            – Метеоры or stars: Bulgaria after 1964

            – Behind the wall: German democratic republic after 1964

The outstanding Czech writer and film critic left Czechoslovakia after the repressing of the Prague Spring. Together with his wife he wrote a book on Eastern Europe cinema (published in USA in 1977). The title of the book is not only paraphrase of the famous Latin formula but also is an improvement of the real special role of cinema and its complicated circumstanced that were in non-democratic system. We publish some chapters dedicated to Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and DDR.

Ákos SZILÁGYI: «The catastrophic consciousness leaves our cinema…»

The Hungarian culturologist, aesthetic and film critic reflects on new Hungarian films shown this February at the Budapest national festival and on new generation of Hungarian filmmakers.

Jan OLSZEWSKI. A dream. What is Polish cinema? What must it be?

Krzysztof KLOPOTOWSKI. On need of desovietisation

Eva MAZIERSKA. Polish cinema—my impressions and hopes

 

«Political effect of “Russian Question” disappears…» From the experience of Sovietisation of postwar film hire and filmmaking in Central and Eastern Europe.

In the published documents concrete forms and measures of Soviet union participation in reconstruction of film production in occupied states in Eastern Europe is discussed.

 

Viktoria LEVITOVA. Jan Svankmajer through the prism of Czech culture.

Analyses of creative world of the unique Czech animator, his poetics and permanent motives of his Art in context of surrealistic traditions and in connection with Czech «new wave» of the 60-ies.

 

Bojidar MANOV. Technical characteristics and aesthetical nature of digital image.

Bulgarian critic and film explorer reflecting on aesthetic and cultural basis of new phase in culture development tries to find out connections of screen technologies, TV and that phenomena we call audiovisual Art.

 

Karel TEIGE. Cinema and poetism. Articles of the 20-ies.

    —Aesthetics and cinegraphy.

    —Towards the aesthetics of cinema.                               

Каrel Teige (1900–1951) is a theorist of Art and architecture, critic and essayist, artist and administrator of Czech culture. He is an author of books Modern Czech Architecture, A Building and a Poem, The smallest flat, essay Fair of Art (1936). He is a key figure of  Czech Avant-Gard group Devetsil and some other artistic unions. In the articles of the 20-ies cinema is supposed a language of future. 

Karol IRZYKOWSKI. The tenth Muse. Chapters from the book, 1924.

Karol Irzykowski (1873–1944)—Polish journalist, critic, film explorer. Author of books of essays «Word and act», «Struggle for the Substance», «An elephant in a Crockery Shop». First articles on cinema by Irzykowski appeared in the beginning of the century (the most famous of them is «Death of Cinematography»). We publish parts of two chapters dedicated to film theory State of Moving and Other possibilities of cinema.

Boško TOKIN. Aesthetics of cinema. 1928.

Boško Tokin (1894–1953)—Yugoslav film critic, theorist, director, editor. His articles written in the 20-ies became the beginning of home film critics. His most important works are Future of feature film (1923), Cinema and music of light, Expessionistic film (1924), Cinema of dreams and poetry (1925) Photogenic face, Philosophy of cinema. In the 70-ies his main books were republished in Yugoslav magazines Filmska Cultura and Filmske sveske.

 

Hans-Joachim SCHLEGEL. Problems of cultural authentity in postsocialist epoch (notes on cinema of states that joined The European Union

The article is based on report read at symposium that took place at 5 International Film Festival «goEast» before joining of 10 new states to the European Union. The main theme of the symposium was the experience of Czech, Slovak, Hungarian and Slovenian cinematographies.

Jadwiga GLOWA. The Testimony of the Political Breakthrough of 1989 and 1990 in Documentaries Made in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary.

Irrespective of individual political, economic or cultural success there is something common between the states of Central and Eastern Europe in 1990-ies. Documentaries made in these states give an evidence of it and are an irreplaceable source of information «on world and people» and the most important—on the society in the epoch of reforms.

Valerian SAVA. A Solution for the crisis: restoration or reformatting? Romanian cinema of the 90-ies.

Turning to films made in Romania in 1990-ies by directors of different generations and to parallel processes in different national cinemas of the region, the author asks if they opened a new chapter in the history of Romanian Art.

Marian TUTUI. Is there a recipe for success in Balkan films?

Turning to creations of Bulgarian, Romanian, Greek, Turkish and Yugoslav directors the Romanian film explorer specifies in their films features that give us reasons to speak on phenomena of Balkan cinema.

 

Pavel JURÁČEK. Dairy. 1959–1974.

Pavel Juráček (1935–1989)—one of the most important names in «Czech new wave» of the1960-ies, a person of dramatic fate (never realized ideas, closed films, place a ban on filmmaking, early death). His «Dairy» was published in Prague in 2004, it encloses 25 years of his life, from 1951 till 1974, the most dramatic and interesting period in history of the state and in life of the famous screenwriter and director. Fragments from the first part of the dairy are published here.