Lev Kuleshov's 2008 Bologna Retrospective Reveals Russian Filmmaker's Psychological Depth
The 22nd Bologna Film Festival Cinema Ritrovato took place from June 28 to July 5, 2008, featuring a retrospective dedicated to Russian filmmaker Lev Kuleshov, organized by Ekaterina Khokhlova. This program showcased both his renowned films and rare excerpts, including the editing experiment The Model's Even Eye Movement (1921), early documentaries, and psychological dramas like By the Law and The Great Consoler. Peter von Bagh, the artistic director, was inspired by a retrospective in Locarno in 1990 to launch this initiative. Significant backing was provided by the Austrian Film Museum and Gosfilmofond. Khokhlova characterized Kuleshov as an 'elitist' artist due to the limited availability of his works on DVD, and his partnership with his wife, Aleksandra Khokhlova, played a pivotal role in his creations. This retrospective marked a significant moment in Kuleshov's reception in the West.
Key facts
- The retrospective ran from June 28 to July 5, 2008 at the 22nd Bologna Film Festival Cinema Ritrovato
- Ekaterina Khokhlova curated the retrospective as a Kuleshov scholar and archive owner
- The program included works from 1917 to 1943, featuring all Kuleshov's most famous films
- Peter von Bagh initiated the project after being inspired by a 1990 Locarno retrospective
- Yuri Tsivian prepared the program with support from the Austrian Film Museum and Gosfilmofond
- Kuleshov's editing experiment The Model's Even Eye Movement (1921) was shown
- Aleksandra Khokhlova preserved Kuleshov's archive containing materials from Mir Iskusstva members
- The retrospective highlighted Kuleshov's psychological dramas like By the Law and The Great Consoler
Entities
Artists
- Lev Kuleshov
- Ekaterina Khokhlova
- Aleksandra Khokhlova
- Vsevolod Pudovkin
- Joseph von Sternberg
- Yuri Tsivian
- Peter von Bagh
- Nikolai Izvolov
- Leonid Obolenskii
- Evgenii Bauer
- Ol'ga Rakhmanova
- Natascha Drubek-Meyer
- Evgenii Shneider
- Ingmar Bergman
- Luchino Visconti
- Andrei Tarkovskii
- Viktor Lisakovich
- Semion Raitburt
- Evgenii Sergeevich Botkin
- Sergei Petrovich Botkin
- Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov
- Léon Bakst
- Sergei Diaghilev
- Alexandre Benois
- Ana Olenina
Institutions
- Bologna Film Festival Cinema Ritrovato
- Locarno Festival
- Cinématèque Suisse
- Cinémathèque Française
- Pordenone Film Festival
- Museum of Cinema in Moscow
- Austrian Film Museum (Österreichisches Filmmuseum)
- Gosfilmofond
- The Eisenstein Library of Cinema Art in Moscow (Biblioteka kinoiskusstva imeni S.M. Eizenshteina, Moskva)
- Belgoskino Studio
- Soiuzdetfilm Studio
- Russian State Archive of Literature and Art (RGALI)
- VGIK (All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography)
- Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture
- Harvard University
- ARTMargins Online
Locations
- Bologna
- Italy
- Moscow
- Russia
- Lausanne
- Switzerland
- Locarno
- Pordenone
- Paris
- France
- Leningrad
- Odessa
- Ukraine
- Stalinabad
- Tajikistan
- Cambridge, MA
- United States