Peter Almond Film Series

November 8, 2010, 6pm
OSA Archivum, V. Arany Janos u. 32

A Private Life (Mikhail Bogin, USA, 1980, 31 min)

In a cinematic tribute to accomplished actors that left Germany for political and religious reasons and wasted away in bit parts in New York or Hollywood, Russian director Mikhail Bogin casts two such people as the leads in this quiet and nostalgic romance. Karl (Paul Andor) is already elderly when he meets Margot (Lotte Palfi) in New York City, their adopted home. After establishing a bond through shared memories of art, music, and the stage and screen in their hometown of Berlin in the 1920s, their slowly budding romance is threatened when a well-meaning son tells Karl he has to leave New York to go live in a retirement home. A number of international talents came together in the making of A Private Life. Director Mikhail Bogin emigrated to the U.S. in 1975 after struggles with U.S.S.R. film authorities led him to seek greater artistic freedom. It was Bogin's first American film. The film won recognition at numerous festivals, including the 1980 San Francisco, Rotterdam, Cracow, and the 1981 American Film Festival, where it was awarded First Prize for Best Fiction Film. 

Director: Mikhail Bogin / Camera: Alicia Weber / cast: Lotte Palfi, Paul Andor / 31 min / in English

Free of charge.

After the screening - discussion with Peter Almond, producer.

Moderator: Oksana Sarkisova (OSA Archivum)

November 9, 2010, 6 pm
OSA Archivum, V. Arany Janos u. 32


Raspad (Mikhail Belikov, 1990, 100 min, in Russian with English subtitles)

“Raspad” is Russian for collapse or deterioration. This Ukrainian-US co-production was made with the Soviet Government approval in 1989-90, before the actual breakup of the Soviet Union. The film is a mixture evocative of epics, documentaries, intimate drama, and science fiction centering around a journalist (Shakurov) who has just returned from assignment in Greece to his home in Kiev. On the evening of the disaster, the journalist makes plans for a future visit with a friend who happens to be a worker at Chernobyl -- and will soon have the distinction of being its very first victim -- while a young couple (Serebriakov and Mogilevskaya) unsuccessfully attempt to have the young woman's elderly grandfather permanently institutionalized before their wedding. At once intimate and epic, Raspad possesses tremendous scope and comparable energy and fervor. Shot on actual locations in Kiev, and in and around Chernobyl itself, Raspad raises itself to cinematic brilliance through rich performances and memorable, textured moments that grip the viewer in light of the accident's ramifications: a probable excess of 2,000,000 victims, including 7,000 to 10,000 dead.

Director: Mikhail Belikov / Scriptwriters: Mikhail Belikov, Oleg Pridhodko / Cinematographers: Alexander Shagayev, Vassili Truschkovski / Music: Igor Senchuk / Producers: Mikhail Kostiukovski, Peter O. Almond / cast: Sergei Shakurov, Tatiana Kochemasova, Stanislav Stankevich, Georgi Drozd / 100 min / in Russian and Ukrainian with English subtitles

Free of charge.

After the screening - discussion with Peter Almond, producer.



November 10, 2010, 5.30 pm
CEU Auditorium (www.ceu.hu)

13 Days (Roger Donaldson, USA, 2001, 145 min)

The power and peril of the American presidency is dramatically explored in this historical drama that captures the urgency, suspense and paralyzing chaos of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
In October, 1962, U-2 surveillance photos reveal that the Soviet Union is in the process of placing nuclear weapons in Cuba. These weapons have the capability of wiping out most of the Eastern and Southern United States in minutes if they become operational. President John F. Kennedy and his advisors must come up with a plan of action against the Soviets. Kennedy is determined to show that he is strong enough to stand up to the threat, and the Pentagon advises U.S. military strikes against Cuba--which could lead the way to another U.S. invasion of the island. However, Kennedy is reluctant to follow through, because a U.S. invasion could cause the Soviets to retaliate in Europe. A nuclear showdown appears to be almost inevitable. Can it be prevented?

Director: Roger Donaldson / based on the book by: Ernest R. May, Philip D. Zelikow / scriptwriter: David Self
Music by: Trevor Jones / camera: Andrzej Bartkowiak, Roger Deakins, Christopher Duddy / cast: Shawn Driscoll, Kevin Costner, Drake Cook, Lucinda Jenney, Caitlin Wachs, Jon Foster, Bruce Thomas, Stephanie Romanov, Bruce Greenwood, Karen Ludwig / 145 min / in English

Introduced by John Shattuck, CEU President and Rector

Free of charge. After the screening - discussion with Peter Almond, producer.