Third season of Friends of St. Petersburg festival of Gazprom opens with early screening of “Catherine the Great” film
RELEASE
Release
The opening ceremony for the Third Annual Friends of St. Petersburg Festival, which is held under the auspices of Gazprom, took place at the Alexandrinsky Theater.
The Friends of St. Petersburg festival will last from September 27 to 29, unveiling its program on 25 city sites, such as museums and cultural and educational spaces. For the first time ever, the Lakhta Center will be one of the places hosting the festival.
Among the events available to the guests of the festival are a unique audio-visual performance at the Mikhailovsky Garden; an exhibition of works by media artists showing their reinterpretation of St. Petersburg's past, present and future with the use of the modern language of media art, which will be on display at the planetarium of the Lakhta Center multifunctional complex; and tours of parks and museums. To celebrate the Year of the Family, a series of creative master classes has been arranged for children and parents. The business program includes discussion panels involving experts who specialize in the fields of culture, architecture and urban studies.
The events of the festival are free of charge to visit; online pre-registration at the fest.spbfriends.ru website is required.
The opening ceremony for the festival's new season featured an early screening of the “Catherine the Great” documentary drama. The empress was played by Anna Mikhalkova and Olga Lerman. The film continues the series of films titled “Russia”, which already includes the previously launched “Peter I: the Last Tsar and the First Emperor” and “Empresses” motion pictures created by Gazprom-Media Holding at the request of and with support from Gazprom.
Andrey Kravchuk, Artistic Director of “Russia” series of historical films
Background
The Friends of St. Petersburg comprehensive social project of Gazprom has been implemented since 2020. The project's core mission is to facilitate the preservation of the cultural heritage and historical identity of St. Petersburg in today's world.
The main lines of activities under the project are as follows: "Immersion", "Tutorship", "Laboratory", “Creative Bureau", "Volunteers", and the Friends of St. Petersburg festival.
"Immersion" is an educational program for the youth that includes elements of a master class and involves leading professionals in the spheres of conservation, museum affairs, urban studies, and urban development policy. The program offers a broad audience a deeper immersion into the history and culture of St. Petersburg.
"Tutorship" is a program that includes professional master classes and an interdisciplinary course for the students of industry-specific universities. Said activities are implemented at the sites of the largest conservation organizations with the support of the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of St. Petersburg.
"Laboratory" is for students and young specialists to perform practical research work in the spheres of architecture, urban studies, media art, design in lighting, sound and landscape, interactive technologies and multimedia technologies, and related disciplines. The corresponding laboratories make it possible for beginning specialists to put forward and, under the guidance of experienced supervisors, bring to life their ideas with regard to the development of urban spaces.
"Creative Bureau" brings together both beginning and professional editors, reviewers, critics, journalists, bloggers, photographers, video bloggers, sociologists, cultural scientists, and urban studies specialists who write about St. Petersburg and the cultural & historical projects implemented under the Friends of St. Petersburg project. Within the framework of this program, young specialists jointly with experts work on the Media Portal and the social networks of the project, as well as conduct public opinion surveys among the city audience.
"Volunteers" is a voluntary program under the Friends of St. Petersburg project conducted in cooperation with all participants of the city's cultural space under the auspices of Gazprom.