Cinephile, history fan, and one-time Muscovite Ally Pitts explores contemporary and Soviet-era Russian language cinema one film at a time! The show combines interviews and movie discussion, and features expert guests including authors, journalists, stand-up comedians, and indie podcasters. From time to time, it also tackles Hollywood’s attempts to bring aspects of Russian culture, literature, and history to the Silver Screen.
Episodes
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
Leto (Kirill Serebrennikov; 2018)
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
Sunday Nov 22, 2020
Caroline Ridler, academic and musician, joins Ally Pitts to discuss this musical/drama/biopic which follows the growth of the Leningrad rock scene in the early 1980s, with a particular focus on one of its most famous members, Kino frontman Viktor Tsoi.
Listeners in the UK can buy Everything Was Forever, Until It Was No More by Alexei Yurchak from Princeton University Press via our uk.bookshop.org affiliate link. 10% of the sale will go towards covering the costs of running the show and you'll also be helping out independent bookshops! Visit our uk.bookshop.org affiliate store here!
Expect SPOILERS from about 32 minutes in until the end.
Leto stars Teo Yoo, Roman Bilyk, and Irina Starshenbaum.
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow and rate us on Podchaser: www.podchaser.com/russophilesunitemoviepodcast
Support the show/fund Ally's caffeine habit at: ko-fi.com/russophilesunite
Check out Caroline's bass covers of Kino songs over at her YouTube channel.
The show's intro music is Cold by Sasha Ilyukevich and the Highly Skilled Migrants.
You can find more of their music at: https://thehighlyskilledmigrants.bandcamp.com/ or on Spotify.
If you'd like to get in touch and tell us what you thought of the film and/or the podcast episode, it would be great to hear from you! Here are some ways you can do that:
Twitter: @RussophilesU
Email: russophilesunite@gmail.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/groups/russophilesunite
Instagram: www.instagram.com/russophiles_unite/
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/Ally_Pitts/
Find Ally's other podcast appearances at: https://www.podchaser.com/creators/alistair-pitts-107ZzmUqmI
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Brief Encounters (Kira Muratova; 1967)
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Monday Nov 02, 2020
Bianca Garner, film critic and editor and founder of In Their Own League, a website focusing on female filmmakers, joins Ally Pitts to discuss this 1960s romantic drama co-starring legendary Soviet bard Vladimir Vysotsky.
Listeners in the UK can buy Kira Muratova by Jane Taubman from Bloomsbury Books via our uk.bookshop.org affiliate link. 10% of the sale will go towards covering the costs of running the show and you'll also be helping out independent bookshops! Visit our uk.bookshop.org affiliate store here!
Expect SPOILERS from 41 minutes in until the end.
Brief Encounters also stars Kira Muratova and Nina Ruslanova.
Read Bianca's article on Kira Muratova here: intheirownleague.com/2020/06/15/in-their-own-league-hall-of-fame-kira-muratova/
You can watch the film with English subtitles at Russian Film Hub: https://russianfilmhub.com/movies/brief-encounters-1967/
Support the show/fund Ally's caffeine habit at: https://ko-fi.com/russophilesunite
The show's intro music is Cold by Sasha Ilyukevich and the Highly Skilled Migrants.
You can find more of their music at:
https://thehighlyskilledmigrants.bandcamp.com/
Or: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1cXWmfhuDWyfKfsYADk96F
If you'd like to get in touch and tell us what you thought of the film and/or the podcast episode, it would be great to hear from you! Here are some ways you can do that:
Twitter: @RussophilesU
Email: russophilesunite@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/russophilesunite
Instagram: www.instagram.com/russophiles_unite/
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/Ally_Pitts/
Find Ally's other podcast appearances at: https://www.podchaser.com/creators/alistair-pitts-107ZzmUqmI
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Mongol: The Rise to Power of Genghis Khan (Sergei Bodrov Sr; 2007)
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Sunday Nov 01, 2020
Dr Sarah Ifft Decker, professional historian and host of Media-eval: A Medieval Pop Culture Podcast, joins Ally Pitts to discuss an epic drama/war movie based on the early career of one of the most (in)famous military leaders in history.
CONTENT WARNING: a character in the film is raped off-screen, there is also several violent battle scenes. This episode also contains some discussion of historical atrocities.
Expect SPOILERS from about 48 minutes in until the end.
Mongol stars Tanobu Asano, Sun Honglei, and Khulan Chuluun.
If you enjoyed this episode, please follow and rate us on Podchaser: www.podchaser.com/russophilesunitemoviepodcast
You can listen to the episode of Media-eval: A Medieval Pop Culture Podcast that Ally guested on here: www.podchaser.com/podcasts/media-eval-a-medieval-pop-cult-754405/episodes/vikings-season-1-47983231
If you like talking about medieval stuff, you may want to pay a visit to the Media-eval Facebook group: www.facebook.com/groups/1117991018383250
The show's intro music is Cold by Sasha Ilyukevich and the Highly Skilled Migrants.
You can find more of their music at:
https://thehighlyskilledmigrants.bandcamp.com/
Or: https://open.spotify.com/artist/1cXWmfhuDWyfKfsYADk96F
If you'd like to get in touch and tell us what you thought of the film and/or the podcast episode, it would be great to hear from you! Here are some ways you can do that:
Twitter: @RussophilesU
Email: russophilesunite@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/russophilesunite
Instagram: www.instagram.com/russophiles_unite/
Letterboxd: https://letterboxd.com/Ally_Pitts/
Support the show/fund Ally's caffeine habit at: https://ko-fi.com/russophilesunite
Find Ally's other podcast appearances at: https://www.podchaser.com/creators/alistair-pitts-107ZzmUqmI