The Russian Film Week - an annual film festival featuring the best Russian or Russia-themed films - will take place in London from November 25 to December 2. A number of events are planned to commemorate Oleg Tabakov.
For six decades of work in the theatre, cinema, on radio and television, the great actor, theatre professor and producer Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov has created more than one hundred roles, and for the last 18 years of his life was at the head of the Moscow Art Theatre named after Anton Chekhov.
“The traditions of Shakespeare’s theatre were very important for Oleg Pavlovich, he dreamed of artists becoming free. Our first departure abroad was in the late eighties to London, while we were still studying at the Moscow Art Theatre School. During this trip, the world was opened for us, young artists from Russia. The first foreign director that was invited was Brian Cox - this was the first experience of international cooperation for us. Our teacher connected us with the best representatives of English culture, ” recalls Vladimir Mashkov, who, after his teacher’s death, became the artistic director of the Theatre of Oleg Tabakov.
From December 1 to December 6, the photo exhibition “Faces of Oleg” will be held at Pushkin House in London. On December 2, a meeting with Vladimir Mashkov will be held at the Royal Haymarket theatre, and on the same day at the British Film Institute, with the support of the Russian TV channel “Culture”, the TV show “Jeweler’s Jubilee” (2016) will be shown. The British public will have a unique opportunity to see the recording of a performance with subtitles at an open show, tickets for which can be bought by anyone who wants to honour the great artist.
“In our country there is hardly a person who would not be familiar with the works of Oleg Tabakov, and we all mourn his loss. But, people like Oleg Pavlovich do not leave without a trace - the memory of them will live forever. Therefore, we are confident that our compatriots in London will come to the events that we organize to commemorate the great artist, ”said Vadim Lobov, co-producer of the festival, executive director of Synergy University.
Oleg Tabakov’s wife Marina Zudina, his son Pavel and daughter Maria have also been invited to the opening of the exhibition. The event will be opened by the same British director and producer Brian Cox, who this year heads the jury of the Russian Film Week. He recalls: “"Whenever we met there was always a great deal of laughter and a great dealing of running about: running the school, running the studio theatre, running out of Moscow to small towns to raise money for the school productions, as well as mounting his own production of Biloxi Blues by Neil Simon. This formidable talent for keeping moving and keeping everyone else moving, is why I affectionately nicknamed him Bely Krolik, 'The White Rabbit' from Alice in Wonderland. You just need one man like this, one Tabakov, and a theatre can be sustained for 50 years... he is and will be greatly missed."
The festival culminates in the Golden Unicorn Awards ceremony designed to recognise excellence in 9 nominations, including the Best Foreign Film About Russia. The voting process reflects this cross-cultural idea of the Russian Film Week, meaning all films will be judged by an international jury under the lead of the renowned British and Hollywood actor Brian Cox. The awards ceremony is expected to be another spectacular show featuring global actors on the red carpet and Charity Gala Dinner in aid of Natalia Vodianova’s Naked Heart Foundation.
Events dedicated to the memory of Oleg Tabakov can be visited by other star guests of the “Russian Film Week”. Among the participants of this year’s program will be: Konstantin Khabensky, Danila Kozlovsky, Irina Gorbacheva, Aglaya Tarasova, Irina Starshenbaum and other stars of Russian cinema.
The following films will compete for the main prize: “War of Anne”, “Story of an appointment”, “Elephants can play football”, “Core of the World” and “How Viktor the Garlic took Alexey the Stud to the nursing home”. The festival is organized by Perkon Productions, and the co-producer is the Synergy University with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. Full program and schedule of shows can be found on the website www.russianfilmweek.org