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Arts

“The wish to help others is deeply ingrained in us all – this is a natural sentiment for a human being.“

Aya Antropova

Sochi International
Film Festival &
Awards


Left to right: Founder of the Antropov Foundation and partner of the IRIDA/SIFFA film festival, Mr. Alexey Antropov; Founder and President of the Russian-British SIFFA film festival, Ms. Liubov Balagova-Kandour and famous film producer Mr. Stephen Mao, Oscar-winner for Best Live Acton Short film “Skin”.

This year, the Antropov Foundation was privileged to participate in SIFFA, or Sochi International Film Festival & Awards, held between 3-7 November, 2020.

As part of the Antropov Foundation’s mission to promote culture and humanities in the UK, Russia and beyond, it supported, both the film and the eponymous music festival on a par with the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Russian Cultural Foundation, the Ministry of Culture of the Krasnodar Region, the Sochi City Administration, Russian Culture House| Rossotrudnichestvo UK and the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the UK.

For the Antropov Foundation, this was the first major-scale international Russian-British film festival, although the Foundation previously held film screenings in Paris and London. Judging by the feedback from the organizers, the experience was positive for both parties.

“We would not have coped in this challenging COVID-ridden year, had we not been blessed with good new friends and partners, such as Alexey Antropov of the Antropov Foundation, who stepped in at these difficult times”, as was written in the Sochi Film Festival Instagram blog. In the same manner, the Antropov Foundation looks forward to the long-term collaboration with SIFFA Film and Music Festival and new joint projects.


Left to right: Mr. Stephen Mao, Ms. Liubov Balagova-Kandour, Mr. Alexey Antropov.


Closing Ceremony of the IRIDA/SIFFA festival at the Radisson hotel in Sochi, November 7, 2020.
Group photo of the IRIDA/SIFFA film festival participants. Front row centre: Mr. Alexey Antropov and Mr. Anatoly Balchev. In the second row behind them – the SIFFA President and Founder Ms. Liubov Balagova-Kandour.

SIFFA is a prestigious Russian-British film festival and award that takes place alternatively in Sochi and London twice per annum.

The festival was established in 2016 on the initiative of Founder and President Lyubov Balagova-Kandour. SIFFA’s main goal is to promote Russian cinema and its creators on an international film scene (and especially, at the prestigious international film festivals). In 2020, the festival was held for the fifth time, but due to the global pandemic, the film screenings and the music events had to be streamed online, due to health and safety measures. This year, the event took place in partnership with Ramsgate Film Festival and was streaming live on the platform www.ramsgatedigitalcinema.co.uk.


IRIDA/SIFFA, 2020 Film Festival Poster.

The jury, presided by the SIFFA co-founder, television producer and director Mohy Kandour, had to select the best films out of 50 projects submitted.

Among the juries of the festival were actress Di Anderson, People's Artist of the Russian Federation Vladimir Khotinenko, Honoured Artists of the Russian Federation Valery Vorona and Vladimir Shevelkov, film critic and cinema studies professor Tatiana Yakovleva, producer Natalya Ivanova, the UK actress Debbie Arnold, film producer and winner of Oscar Stephen Mao, People's Artist of South Ossetia Oksana Stashenko, the UK actor and producer Peter Ferris, American actress Rosita Royce, American director and producer Karl Bardosh.

Link to the IRIDA/SIFFA official website
Video of the Red Carpet SIFFA press-conference, November 6, 2020.

The Imaginary Museum.
An Anthology of Forms


Cover design for Mikhail Chemiakine’s book “The Image of the Staircase in Art” whose publication was supported by the grant from the Antropov Foundation.

“The Imaginary Museum. An Anthology of Forms” is a personal project of the artist and sculptor Mikhail Chemiakine.

His project is based on his own approach towards images, his own principles of research and unique scholarly classification. Millions of images for his in-depth study were gleaned from art catalogues and monographs, illustrated magazines, auction catalogues, old archival museum photos, old engravings and numerous works of art of different genres.

Mikhail Chemiakine is famous not only as an artist but also as a philosopher, thinker, art historian and lecturer.

His years-long project evolved into an unprecedented database of comparative images documenting his artistic finds and enquiries. Currently, this research database library is based in France at Chateau de Chamousseau (region Villedieu-sur-Indre). Young art historians from Europe and Russia arrive there for their internships and fieldwork studies.

Books released in the "Imaginary Museum" series are published in small editions and instantly become rarities, coveted by bibliophiles.

However, from this year onwards, with the support of the Antropov Foundation as its major partner, this most unusual scholarly undertaking in the sphere of art, will become available to the general public. In 2019, the Antropov Foundation and Mikhail Chemiakine Centre released and presented their two-volume edition The Image of the Staircase in Art.

The link to the website of Mikhail Chemiakine’s centre can be found here.

Vysotsky ...
Odessa Notebook

Private Screening in Sochi,
14 November 2020

On November 14, 2020, the Antropov Foundation hosted the screening of Anatoly Balchev’s documentary Vysotsky ... Odessa Notebook – a tribute to the famous Soviet bard Vladimir Vysotsky.

The event took place at the cinema theatre of the Rodina hotel and was inaugurated by actor Nikita Vysotsky, a son of the famous poet.

Screening and Gala Reception in London,
November 2019

On November 30, the documentary Vysotsky ... Odessa Notebook premiered at the cinema of the Mayfair Hotel in London, UK.

The event was organised by the Antropov Foundation in collaboration with Apollo Film and Russian Day. The viewers were welcomed by the organiser Alexey Antropov, film director Anatoly Balchev and film producer Mark Ivasilevich. Among special guests of the evening were Nikita Vysotsky, the poet’s son, and Mikhail Chemiakine, famous artist, sculptor and close friend of Vladimir Vysotsky.

On the day before the premiere, the director of V. Vysotsky Museum and the son of the poet Nikita Vysotsky, gave a talk at the conference Russian Heritage in the Modern World. Heroes. Enthusiasts. Creators organised by the Russian Heritage in the UK society Russian and held at the Embassy of the Russian Federation. He outlined the development of recent studies and monographs on V. Vysotsky’s life and highlighted some remarkable discoveries made in connection with the studies. He also mentioned that in July 2020 the museum was planning to commemorate the fortieth anniversary since the death of V. Vysotsky and was preparing an extensive educational and events programme. The conference at the Russian Embassy was also attended by philanthropist Alexey Antropov, sculptor Mikhail Chemiakine, director Anatoly Balchev and producer Mark Ivasilevich.


Left to right: Mr. Anatoly Balchev, Mr. Alexey Antropov, Mr. Nikita Vysotsky and Ms. Aya Antropova.


Poster for the “Vysotsky…Odessa Notebook” documentary which took place in London on November 30, 2019.

On 30th November, the premiere of Vysotsky…Odessa Notebook took off with a brief wine and canapes reception: everyone was welcome to share their memories of Vysotsky, take a photo or socialise with Nikita Vysotsky and Mikhail Chemiakine, film director Anatoly Balchev, film producer Mark Ivasilevitch, or with the event’s patron Alexey Antropov. Among the guests attending the event was spotted famous French film producer Pierre Spengler (famous for producing Richard Donner’s trilogy Superman and for the Underground directed by Emir Kusturica), accompanied by author, screenwriter and producer Kyra Pahlen. One could also rub shoulders with glamorous Swiss fashion designer Olga Roh ( founder of the fashion brand Rohmir), philanthtropist and arts patron Prince Nikita Lobanov-Rostovsky, head of the Russian department at Bonhams Daria Khristova-Chernenko, the press attaché of the Russian Embassy in the UK Mr. Ilya Erofeev, architect Alexander Barabanov, curator and art critic Anthony Fawcett, coach and founder of NASSA Sports Academy All Stars Natasha Hart, MBE, as well as director of Chance for Life charity Olga Makharinsky, research scholar and head of the Vysotsky Centre in the UK Dr. Olga Tabachnikova, the famous Brodsky scholar Dr. Valentina Polukhina, film producer Maria Rusanova, director of the Hertfordshire Press, vice president of the Eurasian Creative Guild Marat Akhmedzhanov, director of the Aitmatov Academy in London Rahima Abduvalieva, as well as journalists, major art collectors and gallery owners, including those who knew Vladimir Vysotsky personally.

The evening concluded with a gala reception at the Novikov restaurant in honour of the distinguished guests.

Commemorative Evening
and Screening in Paris,
4 October 2019

The evening celebrating the life and art of the famous Soviet bard and poet Vladimir Vysotsky was hosted by the Antropov Foundation was held at the Russian Orthodox Spiritual and Cultural Centre. Paris was a special city in Vysotsky’s life – the fact that found its expression in his art.

The event attracted over 250 guests and took place in a warm, intimate, and soulful atmosphere. The director of the film, Anatoly Balchev, and the film producer, Mark Ivasilevitch, shared their stories of working on the documentary and shaping it into a unique chronicle based on the diaries from the poet’s personal archive and on the memories of his closest circle of family and friends.


Left to right: Mr. Leonid Kadyshev (Advisor-envoy at the Embassy of the Russian Federation in France, Director of the Russian Orthodox Cultural and Spiritual Centre), Mr. Alexey Antropov and Mr. Anatoly Balchev.

"The director of the film was the only person who was trusted enough by Vladimir Vysotsky to set the bard’s poems to his own music (Balchev is also a composer). Due to this fact, our Foundation supports this project with special affection. We are planning to organise screenings of the documentary not only in Russia, but also in Europe, at various international cinema festivals and film forums," announced Alexey Antropov, founder of the Antropov Foundation.

Screening of the film
Passenger from San Francisco
at the 75th Venice International Film Festival
on 3 September 2018

The criminal thriller Passenger from San-Francisco, directed by Anatoly Balchev, was screened during the 75th Venice International Film Festival on September 3, 2018.

The feature was based on the plotline of Ivan Bunin’s short story The Gentleman from San Francisco but set in the Soviet times.


Left to right: Mr. Alexey Antropov and Mr. Anatoly Balchev.


Left to right: Mr. Mark Ivasilevich (film producer), Mr. Anatoly Balchev (film director), Ms. Valeriya Lakeeva, Mr. Mikhail Chemiakine (artist), Ms. Aya Antropova and Mr. Alexey Antropov.

The film was welcomed by the industry professionals and cinema enthusiasts alike. The screening was attended by the sculptor and artist Mikhail Chemiakine, the acclaimed European film critic Anna Franklin, art historian and philosopher Gleb Smirnov, artist Leigh Warre, author Robin Saikia, Sarah de Kay, film producer Marc Ivasilevitch and many others.

Following the release of the film in Venice, it was also shown on September 13 at the Alicante International Film Festival in Spain. In both cases, the film was jointly presented by Apollo Films Production and the Antropov Foundation.