“In the evenings, the little Hedgehog went to the Bear Cub to count stars. They would sit on the log and sip tea, gazing at the starry sky. It hung on the roof, just behind the chimney. To the right of the chimney were the Bear Cub's stars and the stars to the left were the Hedgehog's”Ёжик в тумане [Yózhik v tumáne / Hedgehog in the Fog] (Yuri Norstein, 1975)
Jun
9
Donald Duck – 1934
Fireflies in the fog. DP: Aleksandr Zhukovskiy.
A [favourite] animated character for Donald Duck Day (USA)
– opening lines
On his way to visit his friend Bear Cub, Hedgehog finds himself in a dense mistbank. Strange sounds, and even stranger creatures, omit from it. And all he wanted was have strawberry jam and tea with his friend.
AlekseyBatalov
“Time will pass. Towns and villages will be rebuilt. Our wounds will heal. But our fierce hatred of war will never diminish.” Летят журавли [Letyat zhuravli / The Cranes Are Flying] (Mikhail Kalatozov, 1957)
May
8
VE Day
A young woman standing in what was a room in a building, looks out over the ruins of a city. A broken lampshade and a grandfather's clock whisper of other times. DP: Sergey Urusevskiy.
A non-battlefield war movie on VE Day. It had to be a Soviet film, on this date. Thank you, Russia.
– Stepan
When the cranes fly over Moscow, a young couple learns about the war. Now separated, one day, when it is over, if, they'll reunite
The hand-held cinematography, groundbreaking at the time, came from former war cameraman Sergey Urusevskiy.