Apr 30 2025
In the world of cinema, few films capture the essence of childhood as beautifully as Enchanted Desna (Зачарована Десна). Directed by Yuliya Solntseva in 1964, this Soviet fantasy drama is not just a film; it’s a heartfelt journey into the whimsical memories of Oleksandr Dovzhenko, a celebrated Ukrainian writer and cinematographer. His autobiographical story unfolds …
Apr 29 2025
Born on this day April 29 (N.S. May 12), 1917 in Kyiv, Ukraine, Maya Deren was an American experimental filmmaker and one of the most important figures in the history of avant-garde cinema. Maya Deren’s 1943 short film, Meshes of the Afternoon, invites viewers to traverse this ethereal landscape, where reality blurs with the subconscious. The …
Apr 16 2025
Inspired after seeing this on Soviet Visuals and Folklore Film Fest‘s #SovietFilmWednesday, this was the first Soviet film I shared a little over four years ago, and it is still one of my favorites. What can I say, I love rain and cats, and the illustrations are beautiful, so this seemed like the perfect starting place for …
Nov 13 2024
Seasons, made in 1969, with its beautiful stop-motion animation, is one of the most beloved Russian short films. Seasons was directed by Yuri Norstein and Ivan Ivanov-Vano, set to the music of Tchaikovsky. The detailed stop-motion animation, much done with delicate lace, features a couple gliding through the seasons, all set to brilliant renditions of “October” and …
Nov 06 2024
Today we have another wonderful Yuri Norstein film, Hedgehog in the Fog. Norstein is best known for this animation, as well as his Tale of Tales. Hedgehog in the Fog was directed by Norstein, written by Sergei Kozlov, with music by Mikhail Meyerovich. It was produced by Soyuzmultfilm in 1975. It is the story of a hedgehog and a bear cub who …
Oct 30 2024
Night on Bald Mountain is a film set to the music of the same name by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky, and arranged by his fellow Russian composer, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. The film was created by the inventors of pinscreen animation, Alexandre Alexeieff and his collaborator Claire Parker. Alexeieff was born in Kazan, Russia in 1901 and died in …
Oct 16 2024
Last week we had an introduction to the Brumberg Sisters, and this week we have another great film by the duo, featuring one of the scariest characters of folklore, Baba-Yaga. While this fairy tale, and others, portray her as a child-hunting witch, there are some different renditions of Baba-Yaga. In Slavic folklore, Baba-Yaga is typically …
Oct 09 2024
Meet the Brumberg Sisters, Valentina and Zinaida Brumberg, both Moscow-born artists who worked together as animators, screenwriters, and directors, creating around 50 films in total. Made in 1937, this is their spooky animation of Charles Perrault’s Little Red Riding Hood fairy tale. Perrault’s version was a cautionary message to children about stranger danger. Soviet Film …
Oct 02 2024
In Birthnight, Night visits young Tima, a boy who sleeps with the light on because he is afraid of the dark, and she invites him to her nighttime birthday party in the woods. If the story doesn’t sound intriguing enough, the eccentric synth music of Eduard Artemyev is sure to transport you to another world, …
Sep 25 2024
Andrei Khrzhanovsky directs this mystical Russian animation from 1972, Butterfly, about a boy and the butterflies he catches. One day, the tables turn, and the boy finds himself caught by a giant butterfly. Music by Matthias Müller.
