WASHINGTON, August 6 (RIA Novosti) – American spectators at next month’s DC Shorts Film Festival here will get a rare chance to view short films produced by Russian filmmakers, and an opportunity to see a different perspective of a country often at odds with their own, festival organizers said Tuesday.
“People have a very set idea about what they think Russia is, and I believe watching these films gives you a different viewpoint of a country that you probably don’t really know much about,” said Jon Gann, festival director, in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“We got a lot of very violent films from Russia, a lot of gangster films, but we tried to pick films that weren’t going to alienate the audience, that weren’t going to be too violent, that were going to have an interesting story,” he added.
Gann spoke to RIA Novosti on the sidelines of a media preview of several short films including The Primaeval Father, an amusing, animated Russian film about a caveman who dismisses his son’s cool new invention, the wheel.
In its tenth year, the festival – which showcases films from all over the world – has in the past included entries from other former Soviet republics, but has never had a single entry from Russia.
This year, 152 films are being shown, 16 of them from Russian filmmakers. Organizers said this marks the largest collection of Russian short films ever to be screened in the United States at a single event.
There were more than 100 submissions from the Russian Federation, thanks to what festival organizers said was a concerted effort to reach out to Russian filmmakers that began more than a year-and-a-half ago.
It was challenging, said Gann, because of cultural and language differences as well as the relatively small number of films – especially short films – being produced in Russia today.
“There’s really no other way these films would ever be seen in the US, so it was a good opportunity to do this,” Gann said.
But as the submissions began pouring in, the political climate in Russia was evolving and relations between Moscow and Washington were also taking a turn for the worse.
“First was the Pussy Riot thing and that had me a little concerned. But I was like, ‘ehh, okay, it’s an isolated incident.’ And then the Snowden thing and then the anti-gay laws and the whole thing has me very wary,” said Gann, who is openly gay and told RIA Novosti he was “horrified” by a new Russian law that bans the promotion of “non-traditional sexual relations” toward minors.
Proponents argue the law, signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin in June, is aimed at protecting children from harmful influences, but critics say it is part of a broader crackdown on Russia’s gay community.
Some long term patrons and sponsors of the festival were also concerned, so much so that festival organizers severed relations with the Russian Embassy in Washington, and posted a message on the festival website.
“Recently, the Internet promoted calls to boycott the upcoming Olympic games in Sochi and Russian products. While we understand these sentiments, the DC Shorts Film Festival will continue our plan to screen the 16 (Russian) films. Punishing emerging filmmakers for the actions of their politicians is not fair to them, their productions, or their art,” the statement reads.
Organizers also changed the way they describe the country focus of this year’s fest.
“We stopped saying we’re showing a collection of Russian short films. Now we say the films are from emerging Russian filmmakers,” said Gann.
In the end, he added, the festival is “really about the films. It’s not about the country. We’re not trying to promote Russia or any other country. We’re trying to promote the work of filmmakers.”
The festival runs Sept. 19-29 at theaters across the Washington area.
