Until recently, I had a very vague idea about Dzerzhinsk, a city in the Nizhny Novgorod region (35 km from Nizhny Novgorod). But now I know him well enough and even managed to fall in love. The open Russian festival of Russian cinema “Chernorechye Fest”, which this year was held here for the third time, is “to blame” for this. I was at all three, I was present at his bright birth (he started in 2023 from a high point) and now I see how he has grown stronger and confidently “stands on his feet”. He has his own traditions, but something is born along the way and, perhaps, over time, it will also acquire the status of a permanent omen. In any case, judging by the reaction of the audience, the locals, they are pleased with the appearance of a vibrant cultural event in the city.
My (and perhaps not only my) scant knowledge of Dzerzhinsk can be explained by the fact that until 1991 it had the status of a closed city, since many defense enterprises were located on its territory. Dzerzhinsk was unofficially called the capital of Soviet chemistry because of the chemical plants located here, which are the most important for the country. By the way, it still maintains the status of a city of chemists, although not all Soviet-era factories continue to operate, but there are enough enterprises in this field.
In general, Dzerzhinsk is still very young, this year it turns only 95 years old. On March 30, 1930, the Rastyapino work settlement received the status of a city, which began to develop rapidly and build up.
It takes just over three hours by train from Moscow to Dzerzhinsk. One, maximum two cups of coffee and a sandwich. The train stops for three minutes. During this time, a large festival team from Moscow should have time to pick up their suitcases and get off the train. Right from the train station, the artists go to the Chemists’ Palace of Culture for a sound check, where the opening ceremony of the festival is scheduled for the evening, which is a concert with actors and musicians.
For the first time in the history of Dzerzhinsk, the capital’s Yevgeny Vakhtangov Theater came here on tour. The tour took place within the framework of the film festival, so cinema and theater merged at the same time in “tender embrace”. Vakhtangovsky’s stars Lyudmila Maksakova and Sergey Makovetsky walked the red carpet of the festival, and the next day they took to the stage of the Chemists’ Palace of Culture in the famous Uncle Van. The tickets, by the way, were sold out in advance.
The opening of the festival began with a declaration of love. Right on the stage after the performance of the joint number, the director of the Chernorechye Fest, actor Sergei Balashov (by the way, a native of Dzerzhinsk) proposed to his beloved, actress Alina Balakhonova. She, of course, said yes, and the engagement was celebrated with the whole festival.
I have two answers to the question of why it is necessary to hold a film festival in Dzerzhinsk. First, I am deeply convinced of the need to hold film festivals in various cities and towns of Russia. By the nature of my work, I often attend such festivals and have the opportunity to observe the audience’s reaction and communicate with them. It’s no secret that only a small fraction of Russian films reach wide distribution. One of my friends, who lives in Tver, periodically sighs bitterly: “And this movie is also not being shown in cinemas in our city.” And if the conditional “Cheburashka” or “The Last Hero” will be shown everywhere, there is no doubt about it, then, for example, the film “Shaman” by Mikhail Merzlikin and Alexander Barshak’s painting “Yuriev Island” are unlikely to reach most provincial cinemas. The festival provides an opportunity not only to see this movie, but also to communicate live with its creators. By the way, “Shaman” won the press prize at this festival, and “Yuriev Island” won the prize for best director.
In addition to film screenings, performances and concerts, the festival offers everyone a series of master classes, for example, on stage combat, animation, stage movement, speech, acting. Yes, not all of those present are going to connect their lives with the acting profession, but many skills will be very useful to them in everyday life.
And the second answer is that the star of Soviet cinema, actress Isolda Izvitskaya, spent her youth in this city. She was born in Moscow (ironically, in the Dzerzhinsky district), and when the baby was two years old, the family moved to the young four–year-old city of Dzerzhinsk. The father of the future actress was a chemist and began working at a local factory. Isolde went to school, went to a drama club, and even then her dramatic talent was showing. Cinematographer Vyacheslav Korotkov was born here. And then he met Isolde, who became the greatest love of his life. The vivid and sad story of their relationship is a separate plot for the film.
The memory of their famous creative countrymen in Dzerzhinsk is honored very beautifully. A few years ago, the art object “Isolde’s Porch” appeared in the city. Izvitskaya lived in house No. 4, in Zhukovsky Lane, she ran down from this porch in a hurry to school, stood on it with a suitcase when she said goodbye to the city and her native home, leaving for Moscow to enroll in the VGIK. Now this porch is decorated with a large portrait of the actress, and on the sides there are black-and-white films with stills from films with her participation. One of the traditions of the Chernorechye Fest film Festival is the laying of flowers at Isolde’s Porch. It is touching when the participants of the festival come who personally knew Izvitskaya, like Tatiana Piletskaya, Alexander Pankratov-Cherny, Tatiana Tashkova and Larisa Luzhina.
The Chemists’ Palace of Culture houses the Kinoroman exhibition hall. Lovers of Cinema”, dedicated to Isolde Izvitskaya and Vyacheslav Korotkov, their love and creativity. The interior of Isolde’s apartment has been recreated, and artifacts from that era, postcards, and magazines featuring the actress on the covers have been painstakingly collected. There is even Isolde’s dress, in which she walked the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival, where she presented the legendary film “Forty-first”.
Organizer and curator of the exhibition hall “Kinoroman. In love with cinema” Maria Popova herself conducts non-banal theatrical excursions. Since the exposition is located in the same building where film screenings and many other festival events take place, almost all participants periodically visit here, in a cozy and very cinematic place.
The second mandatory Dzerzhinsky site is the Shukhov Tower on the Oka River, 12 km from the city. For some Muscovites who are used to “their” tower on Shabolovka, this comes as a real surprise. Meanwhile, the Shukhov Tower on the Oka is the world’s only hyperboloid multi–section power transmission line support made in the form of a load–bearing mesh shell, its height is 128 m. It was built seven years after Moscow (in 1929), and this is the last bright creation of the architect, design engineer Vladimir Shukhov, after that he did not have much work. All the winners of the Chernorechye Fest took home prizes – small models of the Dzerzhinsky Shukhov Tower.
The red carpet, autographs, audience applause, concerts, film screenings, sincere “thanks” from the winners of the screening from the stage – this is the tip of the iceberg. And underneath it is the serious, long-term work of the festival management, the organizers of the festival, both from the Moscow side, headed by the president of the festival, producer Sergey Novozhilov, and from the Dzerzhinsky side. No one can see (and they don’t need to) these “tears invisible to the world”, nerves, and the inevitable difficulties that accompany all stages of the preparation and holding of the event. In the end, it’s worth judging by the result, but here it’s obvious – a solid top five.
Dzerzhinsk – Moscow
