Aleksei Guerman’s masterpieces to screen in Istanbul

ISTANBUL 

Aleksei Guerman, a prominent Russian film director who shot only six movies although was active in the film industry for more than 40 years, is being commemorated by the 33th Istanbul Film Festival, with the theme, "War and Remembrance: Films of Aleksei German."

Azize Tan, the director of the festival, said Aleksei Guerman is a name that once dominated Russian cinema.

"Guerman, who lost his life in 2013 after finishing his sixth movie, “Hard to be a God,” a film that production process took decades, is considered as a cult figure of Russian cinema,” Tan said.

"Aleksei Guerman is considered the equal of Andrei Tarkovsky in Russia, and he should be discovered outside of his country," she added. 

The Istanbul Film Festival’s booklet introduces him to cinephiles by saying, "Today, even the savvy art-film goer is unlikely to have heard of Guerman, let alone seen any of his work."

Known for his black and white, dark and hypnotic films that capture the Soviet-era, Guerman had to fight with Soviet censor as he criticized the Stalin era.

The Guardian, a British newspaper, ran an obituary about Guerman mentioning his only film that was not banned, "Khrustalyov, My Car!" The obituary described how the film provoked a mass walkout by critics at the 1998 Cannes film festival. According to Hollywood Reporter, the film was "incomprehensible for long stretches and unforgivably unfunny in the endless scenes of manic visual satire."

Today the film widely considered a classic. 

Guerman's (1938-2013) six movies, "The Seventh Companion" (1967), "Trial on the Road" (1971), "Twenty Days without War” (1976), "My Friend Ivan Lapshin" (1984), "Khrustalyov, My Car!" (1998), and "Hard to be a God” (2013) will be shown in various theaters in Istanbul.

The 33rd Istanbul Film Festival is taking place in eight theatres -- Beyoglu Atlas, Beyoglu Beyoglu, Pera Museum, Istanbul Modern, Citylife City’s, Ortakoy Feriye and Kadikoy Rexx, between April 5 - 20. 

For more information visit: http://film.iksv.org/en/program/107

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