Capital Celluloid 2018 - Day 328: Tue Dec 4

Hakob Hovnatanyan (Parajanov, 1967) + Carnival Night (Ryazanov, 1956):
ICA Cinema, 6.45pm


ICA introduction:
In association with Kino Klassika, the ICA is proud to present the UK premiere of a new restoration of Sergei Parajanov’s influential short film Hakob Hovnatanyan, followed by Kino Klassika’s annual Christmas screening of Eldar Ryazanov’s 1950s musical comedy, Carnival Night.

Hakob Hovnatanyan, Dir. Sergei Parajanov, Russia, 1967, 10 mins.
Widely acknowledged as the stylistic precursor to Parajanov’s masterpiece The Colour of Pomegranates, this short meditation on the art of Armenian-Georgian portraitist Hakob Hovnatanyan revives the culture of 19th century Tbilisi. This new restoration was produced by Daniel Bird in association with the National Cinema Centre of Armenia, Fixafilm Poland and Kino Klassika Foundation.

Carnival Night, Dir. Eldar Ryazanov, Russia, 1956, 78 mins.
Ryazanov’s charming musical comedy, a group of young people preparing New Year’s Eve celebrations in their local House of Culture are faced with the arrival of a new director determined to make celebrations educational and moral. The team realise they will need all their cunning to prevent him from ruining their plans and to give the town a genuinely celebratory New Year’s ball. This classic of 1950s Soviet cinema occupies a place in Russian culture similar to that of The Sound of Music or My Fair Lady in the West. A newly restored digital version of the film screens.

The films will be introduced by Guardian film critic, Peter Bradshaw.

Here (and above) is an extract from Carnival Night.

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