Capital Celluloid 2017 - Day 67: Wed Mar 8

Beginning of An Unknown Century (Shepitko/Smirnov, 1967):
Regent Street Cinema, 7pm



This two-part omnibus film was commissioned to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the Revolution. Deemed too dark by Brezhnev’s censors, the film was immediately shelved, and first shown only 20 years later in 1987.

This evening is part of Kino Klassika's 'World to Win' season. Bringing together provocative films by directors such as Sergei Eisenstein, Mikhail Kalatozov, Larisa Shepitko and Andrei Smirnov, Jean-Luc Godard, Gauber Rocha, Andrzej Wajda, Bernardo Bertolucci and Ken Loach, the season offers a touring programme to reach audiences across the UK and includes tonight's presentation, the  once-banned Soviet film commissioned to commemorate the 50th anniversary of 1917, Larisa Shepitko and Andrei Smirnov’s Beginning of an Unknown Century on March 8, International Womens Day. You can read the full details here.

Regent Street Cinema introduction:
Andrei Smirnov’s episode, Angel, is a story of everyday heroism and brutality during the Civil War years of the 1920s. It follows a group of refugees fleeing the conflict, whose train is derailed and captured by bandits. In Larisa Shepitko’s Homeland of Electricity a young mechanic is sent to a famine-stricken village in order to bring electricity to the people. The striking black-and-white visuals of the film are frequently compared to the works of Aleksandr Dovzhenko, Shepitko’s master.

Here (and above) is the trailer.

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