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Libahunt [Лесная легенда / Werewolf] (Leida Laius, 1968)
Jan
13
wolf moon
Tiina (Ene Rämmeld) walking through the forest. DP: Algimantas Mockus.
Wolves for Wolf Moon, the first full moon after Yule.
In Livonia, which covers modern day Estonia, the 17th century was when the werewolf trials reigned.
“Better to be with wolves in the forest, than with people like you!”
Tiina, a young liberated woman taken in by a family of farmers after her mother was put on trial for witchcraft, is accused of hunting with the wolves as a werewolf by her half-sister with whom she shares a lover.
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նռան գույնը [Sayat Nova / The Color of Pomegranates] (Sergei Parajanov, 1969)
Jan
11
journeys
A nun holds up an embroidered cloth depicting a dead Christ surrounded by mourning saints. Next to her a monk in black, resembling poet Sayat-Nova. Screenshot via Screenmusings. DP: Suren Shakhbazyan.
Garnets for January. The garnet is supposed to protect the traveller on his journey, and is named after the pomegranate with which it shares its bloodred colour.
“We sought asylum for our love, but the road led us out to the land of the dead.”
The story of a poet's spiritual journey. The poet, and poems the film is based on is ashough [lover, or travelling musician] Sayat-Nova (b. Harutyun Sayatyan).
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Баллада о солдате [Ballada o soldate / Ballad of a Soldier] (Grigoriy Chukhray, 1959)
Dec
19
Heroes' Day
Hero Alyosha Skvortsov (Vladimir Ivashov). DPs: Vladimir Nikolayev & Era Savelyeva.
A heroic act for (National) Heroes' Day.
“You were so scared that you knocked out two tanks? Out of fright? Everybody hear? I wish everybody were so scared.”
– The General
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Восточный коридор [Vostochny Koridor / Eastern Corridor] (Valentin Vinogradov, 1967)
Jan
15
People eating, drinking, singing. DP: Yuri Marukhin.
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Nostalghia [Nostalgia] (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1983)
Dec
10
Worldwide Candle Lighting Day
Hands shield something on stone steps. In the next shot, with the hands withdrawn, we see a small, lit candle. DP: Giuseppe Lanci.
“Feelings unspoken are unforgettable.”
– Andrei Gorchakov
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Jaanipäev [St. John's Day] (Andres Sööt, 1978)
Nov
5
Bonfire Night
The neatly stacked pyre on jaanipäev with Tallinn's dreary socialist Plattenbau on the horizon. DP: Andres Sööt.
As long as they can remember, jaaniõhtu is when Estonians gather to celebrate midsummer. It started, they'll tell you, 4000 years ago when Kaali appeared. Ever since, come rain or shine, come socialism or capitalism, the people gather and light bonfires in its remembrance. Some sing the songs of the elders, memory willing. Others see this as their moment to shine. As a great musician perhaps. A faithful worker. Or a lover, for jaanipäev; #midsummer night.
“Come, this party is for hard-working people!”
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Медвежья свадьба [Medvezhya svadba / The Bear's Wedding] (Konstantin Eggert + Vladimir Gardin, 1925)
Sep
28
In preparation of the bear's wedding, a cook – wearing not much more than an apron and a toque blanche – stirs a huge kettle over a roaring fire. DPs: Eduard Tisse & Pyotr Yermolov.
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Броненосец Потёмкин [Bronenosets Potyomkin / Battleship Potemkin] (Sergei Eisenstein, 1925)
Jun
8
Bounty Day
A closeup of a sailor. DPs: Eduard Tisse & Vladimir Popov.
“Shoulder to shoulder. The land is ours. Tomorrow is ours.”
– sailor
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Аэлита [Aelita / Aelita: Queen of Mars] (Yakov Protazanov, 1924)
Apr
29
International Astronomy Day
Queen Aelita (Yuliya Solntseva) peering through her telescope. DPs: Emil Schünemann & Yuri Zhelyabuzhsky.
Like in Enrico Novelli's Un matrimonio interplanetario [A Marriage in the Moon] (1910), interplanetary romance blooms in Аэлита.
Through her #telescope, Queen Aelita spots engineer Los, a handsome Earth man, and he promptly travels to #Mars to be with her. There, Los uncovers an uprising by the Elders against his beloved queen that he vows to – in good proletarian fashion – stomp down.
Aelita*'s constructivist stage and costume design had an enormous influence on science fiction, as far as the late 20th century.
