TV shows about theater are evaluated in Novosibirsk

festival theater
The IV international festival of television films about the theater "Theater + TV" opened in Novosibirsk. Kommersant theater columnist MARINA SHIMADINA tried herself as a professional television viewer.
The "Theater + TV" festival was invented and founded by the director of the Omsk Academic Drama Theater Boris Mezdrich and the author of television programs about the theater Elena Medvedskaya, and was held in Omsk for two years. When Mr. Mezdrich left the Omsk Theater and headed the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theater, the festival moved after him. "Theater + TV" is held under the patronage of the Plenipotentiary Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the Siberian Federal District Leonid Drachevsky with the support of the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography, the Union of Theater Workers, the Administration of the Novosibirsk Region and the Novosibirsk State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company.
Programs about theater are rare in the network of central channels. The average viewer who turns on their TV during prime time to watch the news or a series may not even be aware of their existence. But if he happened to be at a festival in Novosibirsk, he would be surprised by the number and variety of such programs: this time 37 metropolitan, regional and foreign television companies came here, bringing about a hundred programs.
"Theater + TV" is a unique phenomenon. Nowhere else in the world are there television festivals dedicated exclusively to theatrical themes. Moreover, this is the only television show that, in fact, is a seminar school. There is a competition and determination of winners in the finals, but the main thing is not a race of laureates, but an exchange of experience. For people involved in theater and television in Russian regions, this festival is a window to the big world. In the absence of tours, it provides an opportunity for directors and theater managers to find out what is happening on the stages of other cities, and for television workers to compare their work with the activities of their colleagues and learn from each other. The heated discussions that take place here after each viewing sometimes bring newcomers to tears, but they work flawlessly: from year to year the quality of products brought to the festival is growing noticeably. For example, the Novosibirsk youth theater program "Tusovka", which at first caused a lot of criticism from capital experts, this year showed such class that it left professionals from Moscow and St. Petersburg far behind.
Novosibirsk can generally give both capitals a head start in terms of screen theater. There are several regular programs dedicated to the current theatrical life of the city. In Moscow, let me remind you, there is not one: the program of Marina Shvydka and Ekaterina Ufimtseva “Theater + TV”, which gave the name to the festival, is a friendly gathering of actors and directors; “Frock of the People” by Vladimir Orenov is an author’s program that is not tied to what is happening in the theatrical world here and now; and the television lectures of Vitaly Vulf or Anatoly Smelyansky are completely turned to the past. In addition, in Novosibirsk, in the week before the New Year, a television and theater marathon was held: every day at the hottest broadcast time - from 20 to 24 hours - the NTK channel broadcast recordings of performances and programs about the theater, and talk shows dedicated to the performing arts were broadcast live. . It is difficult to imagine that any central Russian channel would decide to use its prime time so unprofitably and devote so much time to image programs.
The December telethon was a kind of continuation of the festival, this time aimed not at professionals, but at ordinary spectators. Now, during its work, the connection with the world also does not stop: Novosibirsk TV broadcasts programs dedicated to the festival, talk shows with its participants and live broadcasts from the hall of the city Philharmonic, where films are viewed and discussed. In addition, the festival program includes creative laboratories and master classes by famous artists, representatives of German, Italian, Czech and Japanese television, about which you will read in the upcoming issues of Kommersant.

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 124/P dated July 12, 2004, p. 13

Authors:

Marina Shimadina

Deuces will be given live