The first fifteen years of the twenty-first century have been an exciting transitional period in Russian cinema, as the industry recovered from the crises of the late 1990s and again stepped onto the global stage. During these years four generations, from the late Soviet directors through post-Soviet and New Russian filmmakers to the Russian millennials, have worked in varying visual styles and with diverse narrative strategies, while searching for a new cinematic language. Financing and distribution models have evolved, along with conservative politics driving Ministry of Culture regulation. This reader is intended both for contemporary Russian cinema courses and for modern Russian culture courses that emphasize film. It does not attempt to establish a canon for the period but seeks to provide undergraduate students with an introduction to significant Russian films released between 2005 and 2016 that are also available with English subtitles. The twenty-one essays on individual films provide background information on directors' careers, detailed analyses of selected films, along with suggested further readings both in English and Russian.

About the Author

Rimgaila Salys is Professor of Russian Studies Emerita at the University of Colorado at Boulder. She is a specialist in twentieth-century film, literature, and art, and the author of the catalogue raisonne of Leonid Pasternak's Russian works (OUP) and a study of the musical comedy films of Grigorii Aleksandrov (Intellect Press and NLO). She is also the editor of a collection on Iurii Olesha's Envy (Northwestern University Press) and the memoirs of Josephine Pasternak (Slavica). Most recently, she has edited and contributed to the two volume Russian Cinema Reader for Academic Studies Press.

Reviews

"All the films covered in the volume are discussed competently and with expert knowledge. The chapters follow a template with a general introduction and contextualization, a close reading, and some critical context. ... Overall, this is a welcome addition to a range of publications on contemporary cinema. The individual entries are all very competent, and attention has been paid to cater for a student audience through consistent contextual information." -Sofya Khagi, University of Michigan, Russian Review

"The editor's parameters for this collection are that it 'seeks to provide undergraduate students [in Russian cinema and culture courses] with an introduction to significant Russian films that are available with English subtitles.' ... Some of the chapters address films that are now well-trodden artifacts in contemporary film literature. These writings include informed and detailed synopses of the films, and offer perceptive discussions of their historical and production contexts. This is, of course, essential in a text ostensibly aimed at the uninitiated. ... the book under review is a useful, readable and often incisive, reference guide to recent 'Russian' cinema."

-Steven A. Usitalo, Northern State University, Slavonic and East European Review

"The Contemporary Russian Cinema Reader makes a solid argument for the study of Russian cinema beyond the context of Russian politics, described as an obsession with Putin in the introduction. Instead, cinema is treated as an integral and important part of Russian culture and society, as a medium for multi-layered and complex narratives, and mediating the contemporary experience of globalism. Lecturers in Slavic/Russian studies of film and/or culture, as well as in courses of global film and/or culture, will find material for their curriculum and class discussions in the volume, while students will get a comprehensive and insightful introduction to various aspects of contemporary Russian cinema. Naturally, any reader interested in contemporary Russian cinema and culture will no doubt find The Contemporary Russian Cinema Reader enjoyable."

-Asne O. Hogetveit, UiT - The Arctic University of Norway, Apparatus: Film, Media and Digital Cultures in Central and Eastern Europe

Book Information
ISBN 9781618119643
Author Rimgaila Salys
Format Paperback
Page Count 404
Imprint Academic Studies Press
Publisher Academic Studies Press