Culture

Footage from the funeral of film director Aleksei Yuryevich German at the Bogoslovsky Cemetery in St. Petersburg. Aleksei German died on February 21 as a result of a serious illness. The director was 74 years old. He was the author of the films Twenty Days Without War, My Friend Ivan Lapshin, and Khrustalyov, My Car!, and was a laureate of numerous Russian and international film awards. In attendance at the farewell ceremony were actor Vladimir Mashkov, actress Anastasia Melnikova, Leonid Yarmolnik, director Alexei Smirnov, and the director’s friends and family.

On February 24, 2013, animator and film director Yuri Norstein gave a talk about his work and answered questions from the audience as part of the "Open Lecture" project. Norstein argued that technological progress makes freedom “programmed,” that many live-action directors have yet to reach the artistic level of animation, and that government officials are incapable of having a true “sense of life.” He also demonstrated how he “hid the hedgehog in the fog” — a reference to his iconic animated film.

Kirill Serebrennikov, head of the Gogol Center, shows the head of the capital's Department of Culture his new theater. Sergey Kapkov inspects the venue, talks to audience members and theater professionals. The play “00:00” is performed in four parts — Night, Morning, Day, and Evening. Among the guests are Mikhail Yefremov, Oleg Tabakov, Mikhail Shvydkoy, Oksana Fandera, and Philipp Yankovsky.

Director Aleksei Yuryevich German interacts on set during the filming of "Hard to be a God", interacting with actors, attempting to capture God on camera, and discussing whether the penultimate shot is necessary when the last one has already been filmed.