President Obama on Russian culture

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama walk with Russian President Dimitry Medvedev and his wife Svetlana Medvedeva at their dacha outside Moscow, July 6, 2009. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

President Barack Obama spoke at the New Economic School in Moscow on July 7th, 2009. Here is an excerpt from his speech:

"I speak to you today with deep respect for Russia's timeless heritage. Russian writers have helped us understand the complexity of the human experience and recognize eternal truths. Russian painters, composers and dancers have introduced us to new forms of beauty. Russian scientists have cured disease, sought new frontiers of progress and helped us go to space.

These are contributions that are not contained by Russia's borders, as vast as those borders are. Indeed, Russia's heritage has touched every corner of the world, and speaks to the humanity that we share. That includes my own country, which has been blessed with Russian immigrants for decades; we've been enriched by Russian culture, and enhanced by Russian cooperation."

Read the full speech here.

Envisioning Russia

The Museum of Russian Art is presenting four films that are currently touring the U.S.: Alexander Nevsky (1938), Carnival Night (1956), The Russian Question (1948), and Walking the Streets of Moscow (1963). These films, in freshly struck 35mm prints and featuring new English subtitle translations, were rarely seen (if at all) in North America at the time of their release. Here's your chance to see them at the historic Heights Theater in Columbia Heights. More details

New film by Timur Bekmambetov - Wanted

This week is proving to be a goldmine of movies by Russian filmmakers. You may have noticed the endless ads for the big Hollywood production Wanted, starring James McAvoy (Atonement) and Angelina Jolie (UN Refugee Agency). However, did you know that this was directed by Timur Bekmambetov, the Kazakh director of raucous vampire action films Night Watch, Day Watch, and the possibly upcoming Twilight Watch? This Tarantino-esque director provided an extra treat to the non-Russian-speaking viewers of his film Night Watch by doing things with the subtitles that subtitles never thought they could do before, such as burn up in a wisp of smoke, or collapse like broken glass. Now here comes Wanted, which Todd McCarthy of Variety describes this way: “Like it or not, Wanted pretty much slams you to the back of your chair from the outset and scarcely lets up for the duration.” Starts June 26^th at a multiplex near you.

See Sergei Bodrov's "Mongol" at the Landmark Uptown

Catch Mongol, Sergei Bodrov’s epic tale of the formative years of Genghis Khan at the Landmark Uptown Theater starting on June 21^st for a presumably short run (although it’s getting an unusually large marketing push). Newsday describes it as a “Bold, epic battle-happy movie that humanizes the world-conqueror and gives him plenty to be aggressive about,” while Entertainment Weekly says that “Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov contrasts images of sweeping landscape and propulsive battle with potent scenes of emotional intimacy in Mongol, his quite grand, quite exotic, David Lean-style epic.” The New York Times notes that “Mongol is a big, ponderous epic, its beautifully composed landscape shots punctuated by thundering hooves and bloody, slow-motion battle sequences.” More reviews here.

The Lost Empire - Photographer to the Tsar - at the Museum of Russian Art

The Lost Empire - Photographer to the Tsar
at the Museum of Russian Art
Monday, May 5th thru Sunday, August 31st, 2008

In the early 1900s Sergei Prokudin-Gorskii developed an ambitious plan to complete a photographic survey of the Russian Empire that won the support of Tsar Nicholas II. His unique images of Russia on the eve of revolution recorded on glass plates were scanned and, through an innovative process known as digichromatography, a series of amazing color images have been produced. This exhibition features a sampling of Prokudin-Gorskii's historic images that are available to the public for the first time. Visit the TMORA site for more details.

Gogol at the Guthrie Theater - "The Government Inspector"

The Government Inspector
at the Guthrie Theater, Wurtele Thrust Stage
July 11 to August 24, 2008

adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher
from the original by Nikolai Gogol
directed by Joe Dowling

When the locals in a small town in Russia learn that an undercover government inspector is coming for a surprise visit, an unfortunate case of mistaken identity sends the village spiraling into a world of panic and greed. Witty, smart and wildly satirical, The Government Inspector exposes the corruption of a provincial town with biting hilarity. This timely and spirited world premiere is a new adaptation by famed playwright and screenwriter (and frequent Guthrie collaborator) Jeffrey Hatcher. See the Guthrie site for more details.

New Russian Studies website

Welcome to the new Russian Studies website!

To create this new site, we studied the most interesting academic websites we could find and selected features to include that would be useful to current and prospective students, their parents, and the larger Macalester community.

Here are some of the changes and new features:

• Lots of detail about what we do in our program
• A better selection of study abroad programs
• More resources, including scholarships for language studies
• More web links than you can shake a stick at
• A Russian-English dictionary
• Contact information for the department and faculty
• A brochure that prospective students can download
• A photo album with many pictures from recent Russian House activities
• Dozens of examples of Russian artwork scattered throughout

We are also developing new content:

• Russian miscellany
• Crash course in Russian
• A glossary of literary terms
• A collection of excerpts from our favorite texts
• Interactive exhibits

If you have any comments, suggestions, or ideas for new content, please let us know!