1.
Rossiya Theatre
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The Rossiya Theatre, formerly known as the Pushkinsky Cinema is monument of architecture and currently the largest theatre in Moscow operated by Stage Entertainment. It is located in Pushkinskaya Square, since the early 1960s, it was the largest cinema hall in Europe and the main cinema hall of the USSR. The Rossiya Cinema was built in 1961 and became the largest of its kind in Europe, the cinema has always hosted major events, such as the Moscow International Film Festival. In 1997, The Rossiya was leased to the film distributor Karo Film. The Pushkinsky was leased in 2012 to Stage Entertainment Russia for a period of five years
2.
Pushkinskaya Square
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Pushkinskaya Square or Pushkin Square in the Tverskoy District of central Moscow. It was historically known as Strastnaya Square, and renamed for Alexander Pushkin in 1937 and it is located at the junction of the Boulevard Ring and Tverskaya Street,2 kilometres northwest of the Kremlin. It is not only one of the busiest city squares in Moscow, the former Strastnaya Square name originates from the Passion Monastery, which was demolished in the 1930s. At the center of the square is a statue of Pushkin, funded by public subscription and unveiled by Ivan Turgenev. In 1950, Joseph Stalin had the moved to the other side of the Tverskaya Street. Media related to Pushkinskaya Square at Wikimedia Commons 3D model of Pushkinskaya Square
3.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
4.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
5.
Karlovy Vary International Film Festival
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The Karlovy Vary International Film Festival is a film festival held annually in July in Karlovy Vary, Czech Republic. The Karlovy Vary Festival is one of the oldest in the world and has become Central, the pre-war dream of many enthusiastic filmmakers materialized in 1946 when a non-competition festival of films from seven countries took place in Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary. Above all it was intended to screen the results of the recently nationalized Czechoslovak film industry, after the first two years the festival moved permanently to Karlovy Vary. The Karlovy Vary IFF first held a film competition in 1948. Since 1951, a jury has evaluated the films. The Karlovy Vary competition quickly found a place among other developing festivals, the social and political changes that took place after the Velvet Revolution in November 1989 pushed concerns about organizing the Karlovy Vary IFF to the background. The program for 1990 was saved by the release of a collection of Czechoslovak films which had locked up for years in a storage vault. And the appearance of a number of guests such as Miloš Forman, Lindsay Anderson, Annette Bening. Financial problems and a lack of interest on the part of the government, in 1994 the 29th Karlovy Vary IFF inaugurated an entirely new tradition. After nearly forty years of alternating with the Moscow IFF, the festival once again to take place every year. The Karlovy Vary Film Festival Foundation was set up in 1993 co-created by the Ministry of Culture, The City of Karlovy Vary, actor Jiří Bartoška was invited to be the festivals president, and Eva Zaoralová became program director in 1995. Since 1998 the organization of the festival has been carried out by Film Servis Festival Karlovy Vary, the documentary competition is an important festival event. The extensive informative program features both distribution pre-premiers and films awarded at other festivals, for the tenth straight year the festival will present Variety Critics Choice, new and interesting films of mainly European production selected by critics working at this prestigious magazine. Seminars focusing primarily on European film are another important part of the festival, thousands of visitors and the great variety of films testify to the effectiveness of the program team with program director Eva Zaoralová at its head. The festival program has the following sections, Official Selection - Competition – films never before shown in competition at any international festival. East of the West - Competition – films from the former socialist bloc, documentary Films - Competition – a competition divided into two parts, documentaries less than and longer than 30 minutes. Horizons and Another View – a selection of the most remarkable contemporary films, imagina - films with an unconventional approach to narration and style, distinctive and radical visions of film language. Out of the Past - classic, cult, rare and unfairly overlooked films, screened in their original, future Frames, Ten New Filmmakers To Follow - ten directors, an upcoming generation of young European filmmakers, present their student films
6.
Saint George
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Saint George, according to legend, was a Roman soldier of Syrian origin and officer in the Guard of Roman emperor Diocletian, who ordered his death for failing to recant his Christian faith. As a Christian martyr, he became one of the most venerated saints in Christianity. In hagiography, as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers and one of the most prominent military saints, he is immortalised in the myth of Saint George and his memorial, Saint Georges Day, is traditionally celebrated on April 23. Numerous countries, cities, professions and organisations claim Saint George as their patron, accounts differ regarding whether George was born in Cappadocia or Syria Palaestina, but agree that he was raised at least partly in Lydda. There is little information on the life of Saint George. Two stories tell of his possible origins, one says that he was born in the region of Cappadocia, which is now located in central Turkey. Georges parents were both Christian, and they brought him up to be a Christian and his father died when he was fourteen, and his mother took George back to her homeland of Palestine. At seventeen, he joined the Roman army, a second story says that Georges father came from Cappadocia. His mother was from Lydda, in Palestine, and George was born in Lydda, both of his parents were from noble Syrian families and gave him the Greek name of Georgios. Georges father had been an officer in the Roman army, so George joined the Roman army as soon as he could, an earlier work by Eusebius, Church history, written in the 4th century, contributed to the legend but did not name George or provide significant detail. A critical edition of a Syriac Acta of Saint George, accompanied by an annotated English translation, was published by E. W. Brooks in 1925. Pope Gelasius I stated that George was among those whose names are justly reverenced among men. The traditional legends have offered a narration of Georges encounter with a dragon. The modern legend that follows below is synthesised from early and late hagiographical sources, chief among the legendary sources about the saint is the Golden Legend, which remains the most familiar version in English owing to William Caxtons 15th-century translation. At the age of 14, George lost his father, a few years later, George then decided to go to Nicomedia and present himself to Diocletian to apply for a career as a soldier. Diocletian welcomed him with arms, as he had known his father. By his late twenties, George was promoted to the rank of military tribune, however, George objected, and with the courage of his faith, approached the Emperor and ruler. Diocletian was upset, not wanting to lose his best tribune, but George loudly renounced the Emperors edict, and in front of his fellow soldiers and tribunes he claimed himself to be a Christian
7.
Coat of arms of Moscow
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The coat of arms of Moscow depicts a horseman with a spear in his hand slaying a basilisk and is identified with Saint George and the Dragon. The heraldic emblem of Moscow has been a part of the coat of arms of Russia since the 16th century. The emblem had its origins in the Byzantine tradition of depicting a patron saint of the monarch on his seal. Yaroslav the Wise was the first Russian ruler to have Saint George as his patron saint. Accordingly, he founded several cities and churches in the name of that saint, Saint George was also the patron saint of Yaroslavs great-grandson, Yury Dolgoruky, who - according to tradition - founded the city of Moscow shortly before his death in 1157. Yury Dolgoruky is thought to have honored his patron saint on his coins, yurys elder brother, Mstislav the Great, also used a seal featuring a horseman slaying a basilisk. A century later, Alexander Nevsky resumed this usage, several of his coins depict a horseman slaying a basilisk or a dragon, though the beast is not always visible. Alexanders motivation for reverting to Mstislavs emblem is disputed and it is possible that the image referred to his own victories over the Swedish and German crusaders in the Battle of the Neva and the Battle of the Ice. Alexanders great-grandson, Ivan II, was the first ruler of Moscow to employ as his emblem the standing warrior with a sword in his hand, ivans son Dmitry Donskoy chose to represent this warrior riding a horse with a spear in his hand. Historians traditionally connect Dmitrys symbol with his victory over the Mongols in the Battle of Kulikovo, at about the same time, a similar symbol, the Vytis, emerged as a state emblem in the rival Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The symbol of the horseman slaying the dragon passed down through the generations, from Dmitry to his son Vasily I, then to Vasily II, a coin which featured the image became known as kopeck, from kopyo, the Russian word for spear. Ivan III used the triumphant horseman as a emblem of Russia on his seal from 1479. This layout has become known as the coat of arms of the Russian Empire, at first the charging horseman was interpreted as showing the figure of the ruling tsar slaying an enemy intruding into the Russian lands. This attitude was expressed by the Muscovite statesman Grigory Kotoshikhin. On the title page of the 1663 Bible, the heraldic horseman appears to have the face of Tsar Alexis, the foreigners visiting Muscovy were the first to notice the emblems resemblance to the traditional iconography of Saint George and the Dragon. A learned Italian heraldist in Peters service, Count Santi, associated the horseman with St. George as the saint of the prince who founded Moscow. In 1730, Santi prepared the first detailed description of the emblem of Moscow. With several minor modifications, this emblem was officially confirmed December 20,1781, in 1883, it was decided to bring the colours of Moscows emblem in line with the three colours of the flag of Russia
8.
Nikita Mikhalkov
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Nikita Sergeyevich Mikhalkov is a Russian filmmaker, actor, and head of the Russian Cinematographers Union. Mikhalkov was born in Moscow into the distinguished, artistic Mikhalkov family and his great grandfather was the imperial governor of Yaroslavl, whose mother was a princess of the House of Golitsyn. Mikhalkovs mother, poet Natalia Konchalovskaya, was the daughter of the avant-garde artist Pyotr Konchalovsky and granddaughter of another outstanding painter, Vasily Surikov. Nikitas older brother is the filmmaker Andrei Konchalovsky, primarily known for his collaboration with Andrei Tarkovsky and his own Hollywood action films, such as Runaway Train, Mikhalkov studied acting at the childrens studio of the Moscow Art Theatre and later at the Shchukin School of the Vakhtangov Theatre. While still a student, he appeared in Georgi Daneliyas film I Step Through Moscow and he was soon on his way to becoming a star of the Soviet stage and cinema. While continuing to pursue his career, he entered VGIK, the state film school in Moscow. He directed his first short film in 1968, Im Coming Home, Mikhalkov established an international reputation with his second feature, A Slave of Love. Set in 1917, it followed the efforts of a crew to make a silent melodrama in a resort town while the Revolution rages around them. In 1978, while starring in his brothers epic film Siberiade, Mikhalkov made Five Evenings, a story about a couple separated by World War II. Mikhalkovs next film, Oblomov, with Oleg Tabakov in the role, is based on Ivan Goncharovs classic novel about a lazy young nobleman who refuses to leave his bed. Family Relations is a comedy about a woman in Moscow dealing with the tangled relationships of her relatives. Without Witness tracks a long conversation between a woman and her ex-husband when they are accidentally locked in a room. The film won the Prix FIPRESCI at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival, in the early 1980s, Mikhalkov resumed his acting career, appearing in Eldar Ryazanovs immensely popular Station for Two and A Cruel Romance. At that period, he also played Henry Baskerville in the Soviet screen version of The Hound of the Baskervilles and he also starred in many of his own films, including At Home Among Strangers, A Slave of Love, and An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano. Incorporating several short stories by Chekhov, Dark Eyes stars Marcello Mastroianni as an old man who tells a story of a romance he had when he was younger, a woman he has never been able to forget. The film was praised, and Mastroianni received the Best Actor Prize at the 1987 Cannes Film Festival. Mikhalkovs next film, Urga, set in the world of the Mongols. Mikhalkovs Anna, 6–18 documents his daughter Anna as she grows from childhood to maturity, Mikhalkovs most famous production to date, Burnt by the Sun, was steeped in the paranoid atmosphere of Joseph Stalins Great Terror
