Photo credit: culture.ru
The anniversary of Vasily Shukshin is celebrated on Thursday, July 25. Soviet/Russian writer, actor, screenwriter and film director was born 90 years ago in the Altai village of Srostki to a peasant family. Shukshin entered the Directing Faculty of VGIK when he was 25 years old. Before that, he worked as a mechanic, served in the navy and even was the director of a night school in his native village.
His first movie The Two Fedors, where Shukshin played the main role, made him a discovery of Soviet cinema. While still being a student at the institute, he began writing stories about his fellow-villagers and spent more and more time on this activity.
In the work of Vasily Shukshin literary and acting talent intertwined. He made There Is Such a Lad movie according to his own script, and it received an award at the Venice Film Festival. The Red Snowball Tree movie entered the gold fund of Russian and world cinema. The leading roles were played by Shukshin himself and his wife Lydia Fedoseyeva-Shukshina.
In the last year of his life, Shukshin was working on the novel I Came to Give You Freedom about Stepan Razin, but did not have time to finish it, having died suddenly during the filming of Sergei Bondarchuk’s They Fought for Their Country movie.
As Russkiy Mir reported, in honor of the solemn date, the Shukshin Days in Altai festival is held in the homeland of Shukshin. It has long become a major event in the cultural life of the region. Friends and colleagues of Vasily Shukshin and admirers of his talent gathered in Barnaul. His daughter Maria is involved in The Red Snowball Tree play, based on the movie, where her parents acted.
The solemn opening ceremony of the festival was traditionally held at the monument to Shukshin, installed in the capital of the Altai Territory. Another tradition is the closing of the festival on Mount Piket. Prizes to the winners of the film forum will be awarded there. Large scale folk festivals will be held directly in Srostki, they will begin on Saturday, July 27.
A large program is planned in Kemerovo region. The exhibition of local artists Altai - Shukshin’s Homeland will open in the capital of the region. Two days later, there will be excursions, where local residents will learn about the life and work of Shukshin, and read excerpts from his stories. Literary readings will be held in the framework of The Best. Shukshin project.
It should be recalled that the anniversary of Shukshin is already celebrated in Russian capital. There is a series of performances on his stories and a retrospective of his film works.
Russkiy Mir
