The continuing introduction of digital technologies into the
production of meaningful and engaging audiovisual images accentuates
the necessity of international cooperation in the sphere of the professional
education of those young people who are planning to work in film, television
and other screen arts. All over the world film schools are challenged by
problems the solution of which requires consolidated participation of world-
famous masters. This has been recently confirmed at the Congress of the
International Association of Film and Television Schools (CILECT) Congress
held in October 2019 in Moscow in connection with the 100th anniversary of
the All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK). This essay analyzes
VGIK's contribution to the process of perfecting programs in the field of screen
arts at different stages of their development.
The essay explores issues of CILECT development since its foundation in
1954. Initially, CILECT was supported by nations with developed film cultures,
such as Brazil, Chile, Czechoslovakia, France, Italy, Poland, the Soviet Union,
Spain, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Today, the Association
unites 180 film schools from 65 nations. The essay analyzes VGIK's role in
the development of film education and, more generally, the development of
screen arts; and emphasizes the importance of international cooperation in this
technological, digital age.

The essay explores the artistic and expressive features of the world's first
film adaptation of Dostoevsky's novel The Idiot, directed in 1910 by Pyotr Chardynin.
The author substantiates the degree of influence of one of the most important
philosophical concepts of the novel — that of a split in the human personality — on
Russian national consciousness at the beginning of the 20th century. The analysis
of the figurative system of the film shows that its semantics and the images of its
characters were ahead of its time and, therefore, deserve closer critical attention.
In the The Idiot the idea of Dostoevsky about a human being’s separateness in the
world is revealed in the four main characters — Prince Myshkin, Parfyon Rogozhin,
Nastasya Filippovna and Aglaya — who are not “complete”, full-fledged personalities
but separate components of a harmonious human personality. These characters, like
puzzle pieces, possess mutually complementary qualities. Thus, Prince Myshkin,
the bearer of the highest spirituality, is contrasted with the earthly and passionate
Rogozhin. And the images of Nastasya Filippovna and Aglaya are connected,
respectively, with the images of Heavenly Love and Earthly Love. If the characters
of the novel could unite with each other in love and harmony, the world would get a
“complete” harmonious person, like the one created by God for the Garden of Eden.
However, such a merger seems impossible within the limits of earthly existence. In
Dostoevsky's novel the individual parts of the soul could not unite into a harmonious
whole. Egoism, passion, pride and imperfection of human nature do allow the
protagonists to unite and lead them towards personal disintegration.
In Russian national cinema, Dostoevsky’s idea of human being’s separateness
undergoes a number of transformations. The changes introduced by Pyotr
Chardynin into the film adaptation of the novel mostly relate to the image of the
film’s main protagonist — Nastasya Filippovna, whom the filmmaker associates
with a dying Russia. Chardynin also transforms other protagonists. Prince Myshkin
is the only carrier of the highest spirituality, while Nastasya Filippovna, Aglaya and
Rogozhin are earthly and passionate. At the end of the film, Nastasya Filippovna’s
murderer Rogozhin, dressed in a Russian folk costume, sobs at the bedside of the
dead “tsarina”, while “heavenly prince” Myshkin who was not accepted by her in her
lifetime, comforts the sinner. Chardynin’s film transforms the idea of a split in the
human personality into the idea of the Russian separateness from God, the internal
split within the Russian world and, as a consequence, that world’s inevitable death.

This essay represents a fragment of a text devoted to issues of
figurative representation in Soviet and Russian cinema. It briefly analyzes the
evolution of the image of the scientist during the period of Stalinist cinema. The
author’s theoretical reasoning is based on the definition of nihilism given by
Nikolai Berdyaev in his essay “Russian Socialism and Nihilism”.
In their policy towards the intelligentsia, including the policy in the sphere
of cinema, the Soviet authorities used those attributes of nihilism which
constituted the main essence of the Russian and Soviet intelligentsia. The
author discusses four periods in the history of Soviet cinema: the 1920s, the
1930s, the World War II period and the consequent period of “malokartinye”
(film scarcity). Beginning with the film Congestion (1919), an attempt had been
made to convince representatives of the intelligentsia that the Soviet form of
government carried the ideas of freedom, equality and fraternity, so there was
no more reason for nihilistic attitudes towards reality as to a world ruled by
evil. In the 1930s, the Soviet culture formed a full-fledged positive image of a
scientist who accepted Soviet power. A most important domestic political task
was outlined: the state was to carry out a tremendous job of bringing up its own
Soviet intelligentsia and scientists who would not be tainted by the “wrong”
nihilism of their pre-revolutionary predecessors. If it ever arose, nihilism was
to be tightly controlled and transformed into the search for scientific truth and
intransigence towards the enemies of the Soviet regime. During the World War
II (the Great Patriotic War), intellectuals became the highest embodiment of
spiritual aspirations and the denial of everything hostile to the nation; it may
be said that their faith was deemed as an achievement comparable to the faith
of Christian martyrs. And in the post-war period and the period film scarcity,
cinema renewed the demonstration of the possibility of an ideal relationship
between the scientists, the intelligentsia and the Soviet government. Film
representation system included images of what the Soviet government gave
to the scientists (and, more broadly, to the intelligentsia) and of their debt of
gratitude for everything given to them.

The essay explores lexical coincidences in the works of Yuri
Tynianov and Osip Mandelshtam — coincidences which appeared in different
time periods, independently of each other.
In the second half of the 1920s, Tynianov wrote the novel Death of the Vazir-
Mukhtar which, while dealing with events of the 1820s, anticipated the soon-to-
be disappearance of free artistic speech.
Ten years later, Tynianov's anticipation became a reality — reflected in
Mandelstam's poem “Lamarck”. Freedom of creative activity did not disappear
completely but became, in many respects, a thing of the past. Even if the hope
for the return of free expression still existed, no one imagined when this event
would take place. Loyalty to the regime and assentation were the signs of the
times. Studies of Soviet artistic life in that period reveal the extreme degree of
the unnatural selection aimed at creating unwavering servants of the regime.
One of such servants wrote: “In today's situation, genius and villainy are two
compatible things: the killing of a Mozart may assist history”.
Such “assistance to history” became a Soviet norm and, according to
independent Russian émigré observers, led to a situation in which Soviet
literature lost the position within world literature obtained by the Russian
classical literature of the 19th century and acquired unmistakably provincial
traits. As Shigalev declared in Dostoyevsky's Demons, “All are slaves and equal
in their slavery”.
Analogous processes were taking place in cinema, where pro-regime
servilism — due to cinema's ability to influence the audience more rapidly and
more powerfully than literature — acquired its most dangerous form. This was
fully understood by the Bolshevik regime which held cinema in high regard.
“Creating art? No, doing what you were told to do”, — this was how Soviet
filmmaker Leonid Trauberg later described those times.

2019 is the year of the 85th anniversary of Kira Muratova (1934–
2018), a filmmaker whose work occupies a special place in world cinema.
Women with a particular psychoanalytic bent are rarely found among film
directors – for this reason, Muratova’s twenty films, mostly known to a narrow
circle of experts, are especially interesting as a research subject. Made during
the Soviet and post-Soviet years, they have not become cinematographic
annals of the age, playing quite a different role. Muratova’s works are “art
films” which interpret reality by creating a unique existential world. As an
artist, Muratova was always interested in the human beings’ inner world,
their individual ‘selves’: this established an affinity between her work and
existential philosophy.
The discussed topic is relevant to the present situation in which screen
culture is becoming more and more mass-oriented, when cinema and TV films
are turning into pure entertainment, into amusement rides. In this situation,
Kira Muratova’s works, which analyze spiritual dimensions and inner worlds of
individuals, acquire particular importance, helping us to face the challenges of
contemporary world.
The existential world of Muratova’s works is formed by individuals’
relationships with society and the world; her films strive to grasp the meaning
of life and the goal of existence, the opposition between life and death.
Muratova’s creative universe is unique in her desire to center her psychological
explorations on female protagonists, women’s destiny, their inner loneliness,
lack of communication and spiritual discord.
In the year of Kira Muratova’s anniversary, the relevance of her oeuvre is
beyond doubt. Her films demonstrate that human beings, their existence and
their moral world form the highest values of cinema.

In the context of media space digitalization, issues of using
multimedia in audiovisual works and in screen arts become increasingly
important. Evolutionary processes in audiovisual production form a new system
of expressive means, determine the scope of modern multimedia, transforming
them into a new communicative space. The article notes that the gap between
the intensity of the introduction of this type of creativity and lack of theoretical
justification of the process is due to the rapid formation of a new artistic
environment, its adaptation and relevance.
The purpose of the article is to analyze the exploration of the new type
of communicative space, change and adapt the art form when introducing
multimedia into the movie plot.
The author gives a generalized description of the interaction of the viewer
with a work of art, equipped with elements of interactivity, which is represented
in the ‘‘creative dialogue’’ of the artist and the consumer. But the design format
involves fundamental knowledge in the field of cinema and practical skills when
using technologies in screen arts.
In the section on practical techniques for implementing multimedia, the
author focuses on the short stories developed by the teachers of the Department
of Animation and Computer Graphics for training multimedia directors at
VGIK.
Taking the work of VGIK students as an example, the article substantiates
the integration of theoretical knowledge and practical skills in teaching students
whose training is based on common and fine culture in combination with the
skills of using digital technology.
The article touches upon the education of a multimedia director an auteur
and professional, capable of realizing their plan with audiovisual means involving
the transformation of screen time and space, which is a difficult but important
educational task in digital time.

Intensive development of knowledge in the 20th century,
including the emergence of new sciences and humanities, constantly creates a
problematic situation in the sphere of art, shifting art’s designation to what in
the philosophy of science is known as “normal science”. This is associated with
the idea of art as a science that has reached a stage of maturity and consistency
and, therefore, complies with its norms. The concept of art as “normal science”
is characterized by a certain degree of conservatism, as it presupposes art’s self-
protection against deviations from the established methodology.
However, sometimes the artistic processes of modernity require different
approaches. In addition, the emergence of new humanities shifts the already
established methodology of art. This happened in the first decades of the
20th century, in the era of a linguistic turn in the humanities, indicating the
invasion of natural sciences in the humanities; and this is happening today, at
the turn of the 21st century, in a situation of a cultural turn, the emergence
and intensive development of the science of culture. The current turn requires
a deeper understanding of the structure and components of art history, i.e., its
sub-disciplines: art history, art theory and art criticism.
The essay argues that in the situation of cultural turn the theory of art can
carry out functions which the other two sub-disciplines cannot. It propounds
that art theory is able to make a decisive contribution to the elucidation of two
problems: the relationship between art and cultural studies and the problem
of historical time, which is important both for contemporary art and for art
history.

One of the main trends in the development of the Russian
animation industry is the intensification of international cooperation and
promotion on international media markets. Russian animators are developing
different forms of international cooperation and co-production in the context
of the economic crisis, financing problems, lack of second-tier personnel and
production capacities, as well as national distribution problems. In the situation
of a weakening relationship with European partners, there is an increase in
cooperation with Asian companies.
The leading role is given to cooperation with China, due to the policies
pursued by the two countries and close cultural interaction supported at the
intergovernmental level. Russian companies are moving from outsourcing in
film production to other forms of interaction, such as co-financing of projects
and co-production. The essay analyzes the co-production experience of
such leaders of the Russian animation industry as Riki, KinoAtis and Wizart
Animation.
Co-production with foreign companies involves a number of problems
caused by cultural, mental, legal and organizational differences. Still, it
combines financial efforts and consolidates technical capabilities, raising the
quality of films to the world level. Co-production also stimulates international
distribution and reduces financial risks, opens up opportunities to conquer new
markets and overcome the systems of quotes that exist in some countries. In the
Russian animation industry, the number of co-produced films demonstrates a
tendency to increase. The development of various forms of interaction between
the Russian animation business and foreign partners and the presentation of co-
produced films on international media markets contributes to the formation of
Russia’s positive image and promotes its national interests, lifestyle and culture,
affirming animation’s long-standing status of a soft power asset.

The essay explores Ingmar Bergman’s film Cries and Whispers
(Viskningar och rop, 1972) from the perspective of the protagonist’s self-
reflection as the main plot-constructing tool. The self-reflection of the main
protagonist Agnes is presented by Bergman in a variety of forms which create,
by mixing with each other, a polyphony of senses and images.
The author analyses those dramatic tools which make it possible to immerse a
spectator into Agnes’s inner feelings. Her diary is her conscious self-reflection and,
therefore, becomes a cinematic instrument for a study of her psychology. Bergman
explores the visual images of the main protagonist’s self-reflection and, logically,
turns them into symbols. This is exemplified by the symbolic comparison of her
mother’s and her sisters’ images to a bouquet of magnificent white roses. And
then, a close-up of a flower shows symbolically the true nature of Agnes’s mother:
the flower turns out to be an artificial one, revealing the hypocrisy of Agnes’s
externally beautiful mother. The protagonist’s conscious striving to understand
herself is also revealed through the use of an analytical voice-over monologue
accompanying a sequence of reminiscences about the mother.
The essay analyses the same sequence from the viewpoint of the object-
orientation of Agnes’s self-reflection. Within this sequence, self-reflection
changes its object, becoming either introspective or extrospective. Agnes
recomprehends herself either through the prism of herself or through the prism
of the others. Quick alternation of these two types of self-reflection indicates the
causal connection between Agnes’s identity and her relationship with her mother.
Significantly, the sequence's ending is the moment of the closest rapprochement
between Agnes and her mother - that is, between two types of self-reflection.
A protagonist's self-reflection could be an effective tool of creating semantic
resonance. An example of this is provided in the film's final sequence, in
which Anna, the servant, reads the diary of the dead Agnes. This sequence is a
reminiscence of those several minutes of Agnes’s life when she was “absolutely
happy”. It begins with Anna reading the diary and turns into the visualisation
of a diary entry accompanied by the Anna’s voice-over on Agnes's behalf. This
creates a triple resonance of the film's semantic content.
In the author's opinion, the above examples confirm that a character’s self-
reflection can become an effective dramatic tool for exploring a character’s
psychology and a technique of revealing the meanings in their polyphony.

he text (continuation of the article “Vestnik VGIK”, No. 3 (41),
2019). deals with the ideas of S.M. Eisenstein, presented by him in the
theoretical work “On Stereoscopic Films”, in the context of the subsequent
development of cinema phonography and modern scientific and theoretical
discussions on the problems of correlation of technological and aesthetic aspects
of cinema art. Eisenstein’s article focuses on and analyzes new and controversial
technical achievements of cinema, but the author’s thoughts reach a high level
of understanding the history and prospects of the development of cinema and
art in general as an expression of the “organic” human need for creative and
artistic activity. Turning to the history of the theater as the forerunner of cinema,
Eisenstein emphasizes the moment of separation of the actor and stage action
from the audience. The director sees the technical possibilities of stereo cinema
as a way of returning the viewer to the space of direct co-action, complete
immersion in the artistic space, integration with the artistic image. Modern
multichannel sound technologies have come close to fulfilling Eisenstein’s dream
of “drawing” the viewer into the screen space and “merging” it with the artistic
creation. But when and to what extent is the use of stereo effects justified, how
do the technological and artistic aspects of film production correlate? These are
issues that are currently the subject of theoretical discourse in the framework of
not only film studies, but also interdisciplinary knowledge, affect the development
of audiovisual concepts in the practice of filmmaking

The essay addresses the key theoretical and practical aspects of
the problem of scholarly approach to the analysis of artistic texts (films). The
author aims to clarify the term "discourse" both with regard to its content,
origin and scope and with regard to the possibilities and prospects of using it
in analytical work with films. From the author’s point of view, the discourse
analysis can solve a complex of serious problems that inevitably arise in the
work with artistic texts.
Since in the work with film texts the discursive practices of analysis are
rare, or even sporadic, and the very concept of discourse is still being adapted
by Russian film theory, it is necessary to consider the term in more detail —
particularly, the conditions of its appearance in the humanitarian sphere and
the prospects of its use in the artistic sphere and analytical work. The purpose
of this essay is to summarize viewpoints which exist in the humanities regarding
the term “discourse” and to formulate the understanding of the term which can
be employed for the practical analysis within film studies.
The term discourse is considered in the essay primarily in the linguistic
tradition — in particular, in connection with Ferdinand de Saussure’s
dichotomy of language and speech; and then the author traces the gradual
departure of the concept beyond linguistics into a broad sphere of semiotic
activity. Modern semiotics, which grew up on the foundation of linguistics,
has carried out the transfer of a number of linguistic categories — such as
language, speech, text, and discourse — to other sign systems, regarding these
categories as universal and basic — among other things, as applicable to the
sphere of art. The essay aims to clarify the subject of discourse analysis and its
specificity in regard to other approaches, and to define a fundamentally new
position of the researcher taken in the process of discourse analysis in relation
to the artistic text.