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Lenin's Guard (PG*) + intro

Generations: Russian Cinema of Change

I'm Twenty

Three young friends meet again in post-war Moscow and discover a new society characterised by openness, liberalisation and optimism.

Meandering through everyday life of the Moscow new intelligentsia, Lenin’s Guard conjures a rarely seen vision of Soviet youth, as liberated children of WWII.

The film is notable for incorporating New Wave elements: non-actors and non-staged scenes, including documentary footage of a poetry evening by Yevgeny Yevtushenko and other prominent Soviet poets living in Moscow at that time, as well as a party scene with a young Andrey Tarkovsky.

The Thaw was unprecedented time when many great writers emerged and the poets were like modern-day pop stars, holding their poetry readings in packed stadiums. Led by Nikita Khrushchev, the era was characterised by new enthusiasm about Socialist society and its achievements.

Marlen Khutsiev is a Georgian born film-director best known for his cult films encapsulating the mood of the Thaw.

Soviet Union 1965 Dir Marlen Khutsiev 189 min

*This film has been locally classified by the City of London Corporation

Presented in partnership with New East Cinema, a cultural collective bringing contemporary cinema from eastern Europe and beyond to the UK.

This season is part of our 2018 season The Art of Change, which explores how the arts respond to, reflect, and potentially effect change in the social and political landscape.

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Part of The Art of Change

Our 2018 season explores how the arts respond to, reflect and potentially effect change in the social and political landscape.

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