January 2010

Wednesday 27 January 11am
Event: Holocaust Memorial Day Act of Remembrance
Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park, adjacent to the Imperial War Museum in Southwark, London. The event commences with a service at the Holocaust Memorial Tree, followed by a wreath-laying ceremony at the adjacent Soviet War Memorial conducted by the Mayor of Southwark with representatives from the Commonwealth of Independent States (former Soviet) Embassies, WWII veterans and other organisations. All welcome.

Friday 29 January 7pm
Lecture: Dr Michael Jones on The German Retreat from Moscow 1941-42: The Story of Hitler's First Defeat.
Dr Jones is a military historian and author of Stalingrad: How the Red Army Triumphed (Pen & Sword Books, 2007), which combined eyewitness testimony of Red Army fighters with fresh archive material to give a dramatic insight into the thinking of the Russian command and ordinary soldiers.

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February 2010

Friday 12 February 7pm
Lecture: Illustrated Talk on the Life and Work of Sergei Paradjanov by Layla Alexander-Garrett.
Layla is organiser of the Paradjanov Festival (see below). Born in Georgia of Armenian parents, Sergei Paradjanov (1924–90) was one of cinema’s most daring, visionary and unique film directors. He was hailed by contemporaries, including Fellini, Antonioni and Tarkovsky. However, his troubled relationship with the Soviet regime meant he was banned from film-making for long periods and even imprisoned. During these times he turned to painting, collage and writing – “My art saved me,” as he said. Layla Alexander-Garrett has been involved with arts and culture since the mid-1970s, when she studied cinema at Stockholm University. She was Andrei Tarkovsky’s interpreter on his last film The Sacrifice (1986), shot and produced in Sweden, and was an assistant to the legendary Russian theatre director Yuri Lubimov. In her individual projects as a producer and organiser, Layla has always sought to preserve and present the legacy of Russian culture to the Western world. Her book on Tarkovsky, The Collector of Dreams, was published in Moscow by Astrel in 2009.

The Sergei Paradjanov Festival runs from 22 February - 9 May 2010 in London and Bristol. It is the first major celebration of the legendary artist and filmmaker whose talent transcends religious and political boarders, drawing on the cultural traditions of Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine and Russia. The Festival aims to present the life and works of Sergei Paradjanov to UK audiences through a series of diverse events that include: a film season; a moving image installation; a symposium and a workshop at the BFI Southbank; a photographic exhibition at the National Theatre; talks at Pushkin House and SCRSS; a concert at St Yeghiche Armenian Church; a screening at Cine Lumiere; a film retrospective at Arnolfini (Bristol); and a photographic exhibition at The Bristol Gallery.

Festival website: www.paradjanov-festival.co.uk

Friday 26 February 7pm
Film: We from Kronstadt
The film is based on Vishnevsky’s play An Optimistic Tragedy about a Bolshevik defeat in the Civil War. The author collaborated with the director in producing the film. Directed by Yefim Dzigan, USSR, 1936. 80 mins, black/white, English sub-titles.

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March 2010

Monday 22 March (TBC)
Event: St Petersburg Student Group - London Excursion
Event open to SCRSS members only. SCRSS members are invited to join an SCRSS-hosted student group from St Petersburg on a excursion to the National Gallery in London, followed by a boat trip to Greenwich. Contact the SCRSS for details.

Friday 26 March 6.30pm
Event: St Petersburg Student Group - Reception
Event open to SCRSS members only. SCRSS members are invited to a reception, and short performance, at SCRSS premises for the SCRSS-hosted student group from St Petersburg. Contact the SCRSS for details.

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April 2010

Wednesday 7 - Thursday 8 April
Event: SCRSS Russian Language Seminar
Our two-day intensive seminar returns for a fourth year! Lecturers from St Petersburg University's Faculty of Russian Language read lectures in Russian on contemporary Russian society, culture and linguistics. The seminar is held at the SCRSS premises in London. It is aimed at teachers of Russian, graduates of Russian and final-year undergraduates who have a good aural understanding of Russian and wish to keep abreast of the latest developments in Russia. Fees: £50 (one day), £90 (both days). Application deadline: 12 March 2010. More information and details of how to apply.

Friday 9 April 6.30pm
Event: SCRSS Russian Language Seminar - Reception
Event open to SCRSS members only. SCRSS members are invited to a reception at SCRSS premises to meet the lecturers from the Russian Language Seminar. Contact the SCRSS for details.

Friday 30 April 7pm
Lecture: Travel on the Trans-Siberian Railway by Andrew Jameson
An illustrated account of Andrew's journey from Moscow to Vladivostok in August 2009. The Spring 2010 issue of the SCRSS Digest carried an article by Andrew on his Trans-Siberian trip.

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May 2010

Saturday 8 May 11am
Event: Russian Friends Exhibition Launch
Opening of an exhibition of paintings by Gerry Clarke at the SCRSS premises. The exhibition is held in memory of Gerry’s wife Sheila Marion Clarke, a former SCRSS volunteer librarian who died in May 2009, and Nikolai Nikolayevich Renev. The exhibition runs until 30 May.

Sunday 9 May - from 11am
Event: Victory Day Celebrations at the Soviet War Memorial
This year's Victory Day celebrations at the Soviet War Memorial in London, organised by the Soviet Memorial Trust Fund (SMTF), commemorate the 65th anniversary of the Allied victory over Fascism.

11am: Act of Remembrance at the Soviet War Memorial.
2pm: Illustrated talk by Sir Rodric Braithwaite, former UK ambassador to Moscow, on his highly acclaimed book Moscow 1941: A City and its People at War. The talk will take place in the cinema of the Imperial War Museum and will be followed by a screening of short films from the museum's archives. The talk and screening is organised by the SMTF in co-operation with the Imperial War Museum.

For more information on the event and to participate in the Act of Remembrance, please contact the SMTF c/o the SCRSS. Tickets for the talk are free of charge, but space is limited - contact the Imperial War Museum direct to reserve places.

The Soviet War Memorial is situated in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in the London Borough of Southwark, adjacent to the Imperial War Museum.

Friday 14 May 7pm
Film: The Young Guard (Part One)
Based on the novel by Fadayev, the film is about a partisan group of young boys and girls who fought the Nazis during the occupation of their small Donbas mining town in 1942-42. Directed by Sergei Gerasimov, USSR, 1947. 100 mins, black/white, English sub-titles.

Saturday 22 May 10.30am
Event: SCRSS Annual General Meeting
The AGM is open to SCRSS members only. Members will also have the opportunity to view Gerry Clarke's Russian Friends exhibition, which runs until 30 May.

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June 2010

Friday 11 June 7pm
Film: The Young Guard (Part Two)
Based on the novel by Fadayev, the film is about a partisan group of young boys and girls who fought the Nazis during the occupation of their small Donbas mining town in 1942-42. Directed by Sergei Gerasimov, USSR, 1947. 84 mins, black/white, English sub-titles.

Monday 14 June 6.30pm
Event: Brest Fortress Exhibition Launch and Lecture
Opening of an exhibition on the history of the Brest Fortress, compiled from materials in the Brest Museum, Belarus. Reception at 6.30pm, followed by a lecture on the exhibition by Russell Porter at 7.30pm.

Tuesday 15 - Friday 25 June
Exhibition: Brest Fortress
Exhibition on the history of the Brest Fortress compiled from materials in the Brest Museum, Belarus. Opening hours: 11am-5pm, Monday to Friday; Saturday 19 June 11am-3pm.

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August 2010

Summer recess

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September 2010

Friday 3 September 7pm
Film: The Rainbow
This wartime classic is based on the novel by Wanda Vassilyevskaya. It tells the story of a small Ukrainian village under Nazi occupation during World War II. Directed by Mark Donskoi, USSR, 1944, 85 mins, black/white, English sub-titles.

Friday 24 September 7pm
Lecture: Skriabin: Silver Age, Soviet Era, Present Day by Simon Nicholl
Aleksandr Nikolaevich Skryabin (1871-1915) was a composer and pianist of genius, a contemporary and colleague of Rachmaninov, who preferred the company of poets and philosophers to that of other musicians. His sudden death put an end to the steep curve of the development of his music and of his system of thought, a highly eclectic mixture. Skryabin’s philosophy and its relation to his music caused controversy during the composer’s lifetime, during the Soviet era, and is still the subject of investigation. Skryabin’s orchestral music is a focus of this year’s Promenade concert season in London, clear evidence of the music’s power of survival though radically differing eras. Simon Nicholls is a pianist and teacher and has made regular visits to Russia to research the music and its background. In 2007 he was invited to give a talk and masterclass on the composer’s piano music at the State Memorial Museum of AN Skryabin. In his talk he will look at reactions to Skryabin through the last 95 years and will give musical illustrations.

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October 2010

Friday 15 October 7pm
Lecture: British Responses to Soviet Art in the 1940s by Christine Lindey
The talk will be illustrated. Christine Lindey is an art historian and lecturer. Her publications include Art in the Cold War (1990) and Keywords in Nineteenth Century Art (2006).

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November 2010

To be confirmed

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December 2010

To be confirmed

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