To prolong the winter, I flew to Omsk for the international film festival “A Date with Russia. Siberian character”. My husband looked at me in amazement: “You love warmth! Where do you go in subzero weather?” I must admit that lately I have been really breaking patterns – I go to cold cities, go to unusual places for myself, like the circus, for example, I absorb some gastronomic delights that I would not have touched before. Apparently, I’ve had a midlife crisis or some other ailment, I haven’t really figured it out yet.
“Omsk is written almost like an abbreviated “Msk”, only with an admiring “o” at the beginning of the word,” I thought when the temperature of -21 degrees appeared on the information board. The city welcomed the festival delegation with bright sunshine and frost. A resident of Omsk who met us from the organizing team admitted that they, like Muscovites, had not seen winter this year, and just the other day it got very cold and snow fell. We went to the hotel to prepare for the eventful program of the festival, which is supported by the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. Screenings of 99 (!) films (documentaries, popular science, animation, feature films, family films), creative meetings, master classes and excursions to local cultural institutions were planned.
I didn’t flatter myself that I would be able to embrace the immensity, so I highlighted what interested me. My top events included the opening and closing ceremonies, watching the documentaries “Ulyanov about Ulyanov” directed by Ivan Tverdovsky and “See More” directed and written by Didar Orazov, popular science films “The Private Life of a Philologist” directed by Kristina Bykova and “The Element of Talent” directed by Anna Yanovskaya, films by students of the Faculty of Culture of OMSU named after F.M. Dostoevsky and guided tours. I decided to attend everything else on a residual basis.
However, on the very first evening, the director of the film festival, producer Ksenia Ilyina, asked me: “You’re going to the panel tomorrow, aren’t you?” How could I refuse. Of course, I went where I was invited, to the Pushkin Library, where a panel discussion was held on “The creation and subsequent distribution of relevant multi–genre films that popularize the image of a man of work as a point of growth for the domestic film industry.”
What a building was built for the storage of books! It is huge and majestic, reminiscent of the Russian State Library (formerly Lenin Library), which first opened in 1907. On the main facade, eight 3.5 m high sculptures made of forged blued copper are installed in niches, which make you raise your head: poet Alexander Pushkin, founder of Russian statehood Yaroslav the Wise, leader of the spiritual renewal of Russia Sergius of Radonezh, symbol of the achievements of ancient Russian painting Andrei Rublev; great representatives of Russian science, art, and technological progress – Nikolai Karamzin, Mikhail Lomonosov, Mikhail Glinka, Konstantin Tsiolkovsky.
Local representatives of enterprises talked about the outflow of personnel from the city, how important it is to create a positive image of a working person, as well as their interest in creating the necessary conditions for directors and producers to make films. The filmmakers listened, shook their heads, but pointed out an important component of success – the availability of funding. It was an honest conversation between the two sides. The train of thought is correct, but I think this is only the first step, and, in any case, not only ideological support will be valuable for potential employees.
After the ceremony, the marathon began at the Sibiryak Center, the morning was dedicated to museums, the afternoon to films, and the evening to theaters and the Philharmonic society. If we talk about what conquered the most, it is the central Lenin Street, which is a cultural epicenter. The Philharmonic impresses with its modern concert hall in the main building, reminiscent of the capital’s Zaryadye Hall, and the organ and chamber music hall in the branch. Here, sound penetrates at the molecular level due to the special technological design of walls and even chairs. We listened to the conductor and soloist Rustem Abyazov perform in tandem with the Omsk Chamber Orchestra, and we were magically transported to Austria, Denmark, England, and back to Russia…
The next evening, it was decided to go to the Omsk State Musical Theater, which smelled of mothballs, where they performed the play “Love under Cover,” which was impossible to watch or listen to, so we retreated after the first act. The Omsk State Drama Theater seemed like a miniature of the Vakhtangov Theater, the same stage, the same hall. And what a poignant work “On suitcases” directed by Alexander Bargman, where very different people are united by the place of action – the house. Here death is side by side with birth, the laughter of gain with the bitterness of loss.
Wrapped up from head to toe, I went to the Cinema House along the embankment of the frozen Irtysh River to watch a film about the artist Mikhail Ulyanov, who was born in one of the towns of the Omsk region. I wanted to see this picture on the big screen in order to feel the scale of the person after whom the festival has been named since this year. And the recognition took place, it seemed that we were immersed in an era where the generation of founders and artists who became the hallmark of the Vakhtangov Theater was still alive, including Ruben Simonov, Vladimir Etush and Vasily Lanovoy. Every frame is appropriate, every word carries a semantic load, a picture of the world of a person and a professional is created.
In Omsk, as in any region, residents are waiting for such events as the festival, for many it is an opportunity to see new or, conversely, archival paintings on the big screen, to meet the stars. This time, creative meetings were organized with People’s Artists of the Russian Federation, actresses Larisa Luzhina and Natalia Gvozdikova, with Honored Artist of the Russian Federation, theater and Film actor, director Sergei Makhovikov; Honored Artist of Russia, composer, bard Grigory Gladkov.
On the last day, Omsk decided to open up to us a little more than ordinary tourists strolling along the central streets. In the morning, the blue sky, which had been pleasing us all the festival days, decided to turn gray, and then it started to rain altogether, but due to the subzero temperature, a dangerous ice rink formed on the roads. My colleague and I were walking from the Dostoevsky Literary Museum, and suddenly he suggested: “Let’s go to the sleeping bag and see how Omsk residents really live.”
We boarded the first minibus we came across, not fully understanding where and why. We’re driving like two fools, rejoicing, turning our heads. Adventurism, thirst for adventure, and something else… The driver announces, “Stop so-and-so.” We look at the map – Marshal Zhukov Street, where trams run. If you want to learn more about the city, the first thing you need to do is get on any tram route. And there is no need for any excursions, because this type of transport is a guide who opens the gates of knowledge, tells honestly, without embellishment. We get out and there goes a festive red, ringing tram. We went in, and inside it was shabby, with corrosion on the sides and rust in the floor, worn iron handrails and chairs, staggers and groans when moving, like an old grandfather. Outside the window, there are sadly leaning two–story wooden houses with lace trim panels, as if with smiles lowered into the ground. In fact, the outgoing nature, with towering behind heralds of a new era – high-rise buildings.
At the closing ceremony of the festival, all participants and guests gathered again in the Sibiryak Hall. The president of the festival and director Alexander Ilyin were congratulated on his birthday, which coincidentally coincided with the end of the festival.
The Grand Prix of the festival went to Kazan with a war film in the genre of drama – “Breadwinners” directed and written by Alexei Barykin. That evening, many names of lucky cinematographers were heard from the stage, who took with them memories of Omsk and quite tangible recognition of Siberia.
Omsk – Moscow
