Melodia! Musicals from Russia and the Caucasus

BFI Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen

Season

Please note : this season finished in Jan 2020

A thrilling season celebrating the diversity and complexity of Soviet, Russian and the Caucasian musicals as part of the UK-wide season for BFI Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen.

Highlights of the season include Ivan Pyryev's high colour, high energy, post-war production, Cossacks of Kuban, one of the most commercially successful films in Soviet history - Carnival Night, the unique and wonderfully upbeat musical comedy Cheryomuski and We Are from Jazz, an unforgettable and funny musical which follows musician Konstantin and his ambition to bring jazz to the Soviet Union in the 20s.

With thanks to the Kino Klassika Foundation who create programs of restorations, publications, art commissions and events to spotlight Russian language cinema. Screening as part of BFI Musicals! The Greatest Show on Screen, a UK-wide film season supported by National Lottery, BFI Film Audience Network and ICO. bfimusicals.co.uk

Previous screenings in this season

We Are from Jazz

U Melodia! Musicals from Russia and the Caucasus

Please note: This was screened in Jan 2020

Film

This unforgettable comedy musical follows the story of the young musician Konstantin and his burning ambition to bring jazz to the Soviet Union in the 1920s.

Cheryomushki

U Melodia! Musicals from Russia and the Caucasus

Please note: This was screened in Jan 2020

Film

A unique and wonderfully upbeat musical comedy adapted for the screen in 1963, Cheryomushki is set in the suburbs of Soviet Moscow, where young couples find dream homes provided by the state.

Carnival Night

U Melodia! Musicals from Russia and the Caucasus

Please note: This was screened in Jan 2020

Film

A brilliant parody of Soviet top-down bureaucracy, Eldar Ryzanov’s debut musical comedy satirises the appointment of a new Director of a House of Culture, who threatens the New Year’s party plans of his co-workers.

Cossacks of the Kuban

U Melodia! Musicals from Russia and the Caucasus

Please note: This was screened in Jan 2020

Film

A masterful mythologisation of the Soviet way of life, singing Soviets on the Steppe are to the fore in this richly coloured Romeo and Juliet-style tale of two rival farms.

Previous screenings in this season

We Are from Jazz

Cheryomushki

Carnival Night

Cossacks of the Kuban

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