Ubisoft Presents Fantasia 2007 | Films + Schedule | Russian Fantastika: From the Tsars to the Stars

Feature Films : Russian Fantastika: From the Tsars to the Stars

Russian cinema has an inspired tradition of genre filmmaking, resulting in a treasure-trove of cult classics that remain sadly unknown to the American audience. Coined in Russia, "film fantastika"- attempts to describe this pioneering body of work from the noteworthy to the virtually unknown directors ' aesthetic applications in visual storytelling in motion pictures. Russian visual-effects pioneers created stunning visions of man's voyage to outer space in 1950s' films more than a decade before Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. Ironically, many of these visually astonishing works from Russian cinema did end up upon Western screens - albeit mauled beyond recognition. Enterprising U.S. producers purchased Russian Science Fiction films cheaply at the height of the Cold War. Many up-and-coming American directors (Francis Ford Coppola, Peter Bogdanovich, and Curtis Harrington, among others) had a hand in refashioning these films to suit Western B-movie sensibilities.

This series will feature restored and brand-new prints of the legendary Russian originals with English subtitles, giving the North American sci-fi fans the chance to finally see these films for what they really are.

- Robert Skotak

This series was curated by Alla Verlotsky, Robert Skotak and Dennis Bartok. It is presented by Seagull Films , the Film Society of Lincoln Center and the American Cinematheque in collaboration with Concern Mosfilm, Russian State Archive Gosfilmofond and M-Film Studio.