Russian

The Women's Studies Program, the Russian Department, and the Film Studies Department proudly hosted the Bowdoin College International Women's Film Festival: Focus on the Former Soviet Union.

The goals of this festival were to make available to the public a very important source of information about the changing culture of an area of the world-- the Former Soviet Union-- which is still not well understood, and to give the public access to films which they otherwise would not see.

The festival features films from Russia and other former Soviet Union Republics which had been recently shown at the Moscow and Sochi International Film Festivals. What made Bowdoin's week-long event unique was the directors, scriptwriters, film critics and even on child actress, from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Azerbaijan who presented their films in person and answered questions immediately after the showings. Throughout the week, they joined American scholars, students, and community members in round table discussions about the specific topics each film raised.

The festival highlighted problems that face women and children on the threshold of the 21st century. It endeavored to bridge the gap between the student body at Bowdoin and the community at large, by looking at a number of pressing issues of interest to both: The struggle for identity in emerging ethnic societies, health problems (AIDS, cholera epidemics,etc.), nuclear pollution, violence against women, and the limitations confronting women in certain developing nation societies. At the same time, the festival looked at the state of the art in Russian cinema today. It focused on difficulties facing filmmakers as the Russian film industry struggles to maintain its historic role in world cinema.

Films shown at the 1996 Festival:

Mikhail Belikov's Meltdown (Raspad)

Natalia Andreichenko's Shamara