4th Annual New Land Film Festival at YIVO for Russian Heritage Month

New York, NY– To celebrate Russian Heritage Month this June, YIVO and RAF present: The 4th Annual New Land Film Festival, a two-night series of documentaries depicting the era of the Russian cultural migration and the people who defined it on Monday and Tuesday, June 6th and 7th, 2016 at 6:00 pm at the Center for Jewish History (15 West 16th Street, New York, NY 10011). The New Land Film Festival features films by David Grubin, Sergey Kokovkin, Michael Drob, and Edward Staroselsky, and will feature Q&A sessions with David Grubin and Emilia Kabakov, Michael Drob, and Edward Staroselsky.

June 6 - The New Land Film Festival Night One

6:00pm - "Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The Art of the Departure" by David Grubin (23 minutes), followed by a short Q&A with David Grubin and Emilia Kabakov.

Ilya Kabakov, the internationally acclaimed artist, came of age as an artist in the Soviet Union during the repressive days before Perestroika when avant-garde artists were forbidden to exhibit their work publicly. He managed to immigrate to America in search of creative freedom, where he married and began collaborating with Emilia Lekach, another fugitive from Soviet Russia. Together Ilya and Emilia Kabakov went on to make their mark, exhibiting around the world, creating work filled with poetic longing and a biting satirical critique of the society they had left behind and the government that had refused to allow him to exhibit. Finally in 2004, as winds of change blew through Russia, they were invited back to show their work at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg - the first living artists ever to be so honored. Ilya and Emilia Kabakov: The Art of Departure tells the story of their first trip back to Russia since they fled, filled with the tension and setbacks of installing their monumental exhibition at the Hermitage, and paints a vivid picture of their early days under the soul-crushing Soviet regime.

6:40pm - "The Demarche of the Enthusiast" by Sergey Kokovkin (40 minutes)

His fate was full of mystery and turncoats. Dovlatov played with his life, as well as with his heroes — baldly and recklessly. In his pseudo documentary prose he will confuse tracks, change his surname, date of birth, names of wives and relatives. In his books, he himself becomes a fiction, an ordinary piece of his daring play. In life he was distracting from the overall rankings not only by his 2 meters height, but by complete freedom from all the ideological schemes and behavioral norms. But rolling down, Dovlatov was actually steadily rising. It was a game where prince was playing a pauper. Progressive tactics of outsider who believes in his finishing spurt. Having passed away at the age of 48 years, he didn't live to see his fantastic glory in the homeland by just a bit of time.

7:30pm - "Stateless" by Michael Drob (86 minutes), followed by a short Q&A with Michael Drob.

In the late 1980’s Soviet Jews were once again given permission to leave the USSR. Unlike their ‘refusenik’ predecessors, those coming to the US were now burdened with having to prove “reasonable fear of persecution,” a concept simply not understood by those born into maltreatment. Because of this, thousands had their applications for refugee status denied, leaving them in Italy – Stateless. This is the first documentary film that guides us through this experience as recalled by the emigres themselves and with political context by representatives of HIAS, NYANA, AJC and others.

June 7- The New Land Film Festival Night Two

6:00pm - "It's a fine kettle of Fish" by Edward Staroselsky (50 minutes)

A kinograph picture about Mikhail Fishgoyt, who was a war hero, GULAG prisoner, and a film director in Gorky film studio in Moscow.

7:30pm - "Boba - Sapper of Big Dramatic Theater" by Edward Staroselsky (50 minutes)

When World War II ended, the sapper Boris Leskin’s life unexpectedly became connected to the Great Drama Theater. His friends included some of Leningrad’s finest actors, but his own theatrical career never panned out; he was given only supporting roles. Leskin was no longer young when he made the decision to leave his beloved theater and try his fortune in America, where, to the surprise of his colleagues back in Petersburg, he became a Hollywood success.

8:30 pm -Short Q&A with Edward Staroselsky

The 4th Annual New Land Film Festival
Monday and Tuesday, June 6th and 7th, 2016 | 6:00 pm
Center for Jewish History
15 West 16th Street • New York, NY 10011
Tickets are $15/night (General Admission), $10/night (Members)
Advance tickets available at: https://www.yivo.org/4th-Annual-New-Land-Film-Festival

For press inquiries, contact:

Alex Weiser
Director of Public Programs
(212) 294-6152

About the Speakers

David Grubin is a director, writer, producer, and cinematographer who has produced over 100 films, ranging across history, art, poetry, and science, winning every award in the field of documentary television, including two Alfred I. Dupont awards, three George Foster Peabody prizes, five Writer's Guild prizes, and ten Emmys. His biographies for the PBS series American Experience -Abraham and Mary Lincoln: A House Divided; LBJ; Truman;TR: The Story of Theodore Roosevelt; and FDR - have set the standard for television biography. His five-part series for PBS - Healing And The Mind with Bill Moyers - has won many awards, and the companion book, for which he was executive editor, rose to number one on The New York Times Best Sellers list, remaining on the list for 32 weeks. Grubin has received a Guggenheim Fellowship, has been a Montgomery Fellow at Dartmouth College, and is the recipient of an honorary doctorate from his alma mater, Hamilton College. A former chairman of the board of directors of The Film Forum, he is a member of the Society of American Historians, and sits on the board at Poets House. Grubin has taught documentary film producing in Columbia University's Graduate Film Program, and has lectured on filmmaking across the country. His most recent films for PBS aired in 2015: Language Matters with Bob Holman, a film about languages in danger of extinction, and two films about health care in the United States - Rx: The Quiet Revolution, and Doctors of Tomorrow. Currently, he is producing a film about Nikola Tesla for PBS’s American Experience.

Edward Staroselsky (born 1948, Leningrand, now St. Petersburg). Graduated Russian State Institute of Performing Arts. Director of documentary films: «Post Cards from Hell», «Shining in the dark», «These are the pies», «Boba – The Sapper of Bolshoi Drama», feature films «Prime Time», «My Famely Treаgure», «Life Experians». Stage productions: «The Naked King» (by Schwartz), «Fantasy of Pushkin», «Jan of Ark» (by Shaw), «Gogol in the Subway», «The Inspector General». Has lived in the US since 1979.

About YIVO

The YIVO Institute for Jewish Research is dedicated to the preservation and study of the history and culture of East European Jewry worldwide. For nearly a century, YIVO has pioneered new forms of Jewish scholarship, research, education, and cultural expression. Our public programs and exhibitions, as well as online and on-site courses, extend our outreach to a global community. The YIVO Archives contains 24 million unique items and YIVO’s Library has over 400,000 volumes—the single largest resource for the study of East European Jewish life in the world. yivo.org / yivo.org/the-whole-story

About RAF

The Russian American Foundation was founded in 1997 to encourage interest in and understanding of Russian heritage among all communities in the US, as well as to promote reciprocal interest in and understanding of American heritage among global Russian-speaking communities. Its incorporates national programs aimed at promoting economic and social development, progress, and well-being within the Russian-speaking community of the New York area and the greater United States; promoting a better understanding and acceptance of the Russian-speaking community among the various other communities of New York and the greater United States; and assisting the Russian-speaking community of New York and the greater United States in preserving its heritage, culture, and language. http://russianamericanfoundation.org/