Russian Film Festival commemorates 70th Victory Day

CEBU, Philippines - The Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Philippines will be screening classic Russian films in selected venues in Metro Manila, Cebu, and other major cities in the country to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the Soviet Victory Day over the Nazis during World War 2.

Here in Cebu, film showings were held at the University of San Carlos-Talamban Campus (USC-TC) College of Architecture and Fine Arts (CAFA) Theatre last March 12.

A second screening will be conducted on March 30 at the Marcelo Fernan Press Center in Sudlon, Lahug in cooperation with Cenewof and Newscoop.

More screenings are also scheduled in the following weeks leading to May 9, which is celebrated in Russia and the countries of the former Soviet Union as Victory Day of what they called the “Great Patriotic War” against Nazi Germany.

Armi Lopez-Garcia, Honorary Consul of the Russian Federation and Chair of the Philippine-Russian Business Assembly, said that the classic films are intended to be shown to Filipino students and general public as well as Russians residing or visiting the country.

The films showcase personal stories of courage, love, and friendship amidst the Russian people’s heroic resistance which played a decisive role in the defeat of the Nazi war machine during the Second World War.

“It’s not every day that classic films like these are shown. These are not your typical war or historical films but are also fascinating stories in their own right. I am personally inviting everyone to watch the screening,” Garcia said.

The featured films include the Soviet film director Mikhail Kalatazov’s war drama “The Cranes Are Flying” (1957) which won the Palme d’Or at the 1958 Cannes Film Festival; “Normandie-Niemen” (1960) directed by Jean Dréville and Damir Vyatich-Berezhnykh; “Ballad of a Soldier” (1959) directed by Grigori Chukhrai; Director Sergei Bondarchuk’s “They Fought For Their Motherland” (1975) and “Destiny of a Man” (1959) based on a novel by Nobel Prize-winning Soviet novelist Mikhail Sholokhov and; and Nikolai Lebedev’s “The Star” (2002). (PR) (FREEMAN)