Retrospective Of Russian Master

by Sandy Mandelberger, North American Editor

The Film Society of Lincoln Center in New York has announced that it will screen the full oeuvre of Russian filmmaker Aleksei Guerman, whose films have rarely played outside the borders of his native country. The series, entitled War and Remembrance: The Films of Aleksei Guerman, will screen at the Walter Reade Theater from March 14 to 20. This is the first North American retrospective for the Russian filmmaker, who Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Associate Director of Programming, Scott Foundas described as “one of the masters of contemporary world cinema, but whose films have been nearly impossible to see in the West. We are particularly excited to be able to present Guerman’s debut feature, THE SEVENTH COMPANION, and his masterpiece, TRIAL ON THE ROAD, in new 35mm prints made expressly for this series.”

Guerman’s films–five features to date, all shot in stunning black-and-white and staged in complex, obsessively detailed tracking shots that rank with the best of Scorsese and De Palma–have long been championed by a small but enthusiastic cult of admirers, including the programmers of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, who selected MY FRIEND IVAN LAPSHIN for the 1987 edition of New Directors/New Films and KHRUSTALYOV, MY CAR! for the 1998 New York Film Festival. For more information on the series, visit: www.filmlinc.com