Guest of the Club “Russian seasons”
“Oscar” nominee Pyotr Todorovskii
Tatiana Romanova, Galina Ivanova, Gleb Iatsenia
V.Loshchinin, T.Romanova, M.Todorovskaya, P.Todorovskii
On February 13th, 2006 UN Club “Russian seasons” organized an exiting
evening with Pyotr Todorovskii, famous film director who
shared with the audience his songs and the movie” Encore, once
more Encore”. He came with his wife and producer of almost all
his films – Mira Todorovskaya. This evening was made possible by the generous
support from the Aeroflot “Russian Airlines” and the Permanent Mission
of Russian Federation to the United Nations office in Geneva. The evening
with Pyotr Todorovskii, opened by Tatiana Romanova, the President of the
Club “Russian Seasons, was enjoyed by members of the Club and numerous
invitees. The meeting with such famous producers and directors, well known
and admired not only in Russia, but also worldwide, will stay for a long time
in the memory of the participants.
He jokes that nobody invites him to soirées without his guitar anymore,
talks about why he has bad hearing, and gives most of the credit he deserves
to the actors he worked with. Pyotr Todorovkii, 80, director, writer, composer,
interpreter on all known musical instruments, cinematographer and
actor. After fighting three years on the Eastern Front in World War II, he
returned to Russia looking for a new time, for the joys of victory, but what he
found was a different story. Of the 16 films he has directed, a third are about
the Great Patriotic War and its aftermath. Films like Encore, once more
Encore, and War-Time Romance , that was nominated for an Oscar, embodied
his feelings about these difficult times. He will tell you how he learned to play
the accordion in Germany, acting as the mayor of a small town by day and
teaching himself by night. Numerous other war stories come out, like the time
his hearing got worse after a shell exploded right behind him, covering him
and his fellow soldiers with a ton of sand. When all is told he takes out his guitar
and starts playing. After a couple of songs, he adds his voice to the tune
after pausing momentarily to tell his audience about the song, one of Gennadi
Shpalikov, a talented young director and writer who incidentally wrote the
screenplay for the classics Walking the Streets of Moscow and I am Twenty. It
is a tragic tale, ending in suicide, and the words that follow are like a poem,
simple yet strong, a beautiful song about the war.
Born on August 26th 1925, Pyotr Todorovskii left for the front a 19 year
old boy, and returning a thrice decorated man, he chose to pursue his
dream to become a cameraman, having been inspired by war cameramen
on the front. In the early 1950s he finished the Cinematographic Institute of
Moscow, and then worked for almost ten years as a cameraman at the film
studios in Odessa (Ukraine). Then he got the chance to direct his own
major film (after his first work Nevermore (1962)). It was a once in a lifetime
opportunity and he nailed it. Faithfulness (1965) won the prize for
best director at the Soviet film festival and then another at the Venice film
festival. His career started then and still hasn’t ended, Mr. Todorkovskii
has since worked with the likes of Boulat Okoudjava, Valentin Gaft, Yevgeni
Mironov, Yelena Yakovleva, Nikolai Burlyayev, Zinovi Gerdt, Galina
Polskikh, Yevgeni Yevstigneyev and the list goes on.
When Mr. Todorovskii turned 70 in 1995, a famous film critic wrote
of him, Pyotr Todorkovskii has kept his reputation as a good person
and a good director which, in itself, is already an achievement in
the cultural world. As for the number 70, even though it has been
legally proven, it still raises doubts when we see how culturally
active the director still is. Maybe Todorkovskii saved his breath
because of this, because he never hurried, never tried outpacing
progress, and was one of few to escape the canonized vulgarity of
80s “national films” even though he created true blockbusters.
A few words about Mira Todorovskaya. She is not a novice in cinematography.
Member of the Union of Filmmakers from 1961, she is
known as a screen play of more than thirty documentary, popular science
and television films.
In difficult time for Russian cinematography when the State sharply
reduced the cinema production financing, Mira came to help her husband –
the famous director Petr Todorovsky having found some foreign investors for
his picture “Intergirl”. The work in a new field has fascinated her and then
Todorovskaya came to the idea for creation of the “Myrabel” Company-Studio.
Thanks to the experience, cinematography knowledge and brilliant organizational
abilities of its General Director, the Studio has successfully produced
several fiction and feature-publicistic pictures, developed some new
production projects.
Using her designing experience she established a mock-up workshop at the “Myrabel” Studio and purchased for her own the unique world-famous diorama
mock-up of the Moscow center for its restoration and following exhibition
during the celebration of the 850th anniversary of Moscow.
Mira Todorovskaya and the “Myrabel” Studio are readily responding to
requests for rendering services to both foreign and national partners.
They help young filmmakers to find their own way to the movie. Exactly
with the “Myrabel” Studio help the picture “Stranger” created by Khazakh
director Timur Suleimenov was presented in 1996 for The Young Filmmakers
Festival “Saint Ann” and won the Grand Prix there.
The energy, initiative and experience of Mira Todorovskaya promise her off
spring, the “Myrabel” Studio, new creative progress.
Club “Russian seasons” prepares other interesting events and will keep all
friends of Russian culture and arts informed.
© 2006 UN Special |