On 17 October 2005 the State Hermitage Press Service issued a public statement. The State Hermitage is opposed to the building of any pavilions for film showings on Palace Square, and also does not accept that banners or advertising streamers be posted on the Square, since these all would mar the appearance of the city’s main square.

The State Hermitage is opposed to the building of any pavilions for film showings on Palace Square, and also does not accept that banners or advertising streamers be posted on the Square, since these all would mar the appearance of the city’s main square.

The Hermitage believes the Square may be used only for the opening and closing ceremonies of festivals when they are organized in keeping with the style and traditions of the Hermitage and of Palace Square itself, and when the regulations governing use of this space are observed.

For a second time the State Hermitage suggested to the festival organizers, represented by Producer Mark Rudinshtein and Public Relations Director Varvara Vladimirova, that the pavilions for film screenings be placed within the inner courtyards of the Eastern Wing of the General Staff complex, which is presently being prepared for restoration. The festival organizers showed understanding for the situation and a readiness to study this possibility.

The sides agreed to hold a joint press conference at the end of October.

Discussion

Don’t Abuse Palace Square. "Gorod" N 20 13 June 2005.
Vadim Shuvalov

The idea of cinema businessman Mark Rudinshtein to hold a Class "A" international film festival next summer continues to provoke discussion in St Petersburg (for details see "Gorod", No 19 dated 6 June). The project initiators are planning to use Palace Square as the main venue for the festival. Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky has previously spoken out a number of times against using the main square of St Petersburg for purposes that are not in line with its character. "Gorod" has decided to clarify how Piotrovsky feels about the latest cinema initiatives.

- Do you like Rudinshtein’s idea of holding a film festival on Palace Square?

-As far as I understand, there are two issues here. I have no objections to holding a festival in the historical center of Petersburg. One can use the Palace Square for ceremonies relating to the festival, - as a venue for events, as the place of its opening, etc. But it is not appropriate to build pavilions on Palace Square. We do not have very many remaining historical places with their own aesthetics and we should not close them off with tents.

The main thing is that we must not allow the square to be closed off to tourists in the middle of the summer, closed to people who specially come here to see Petersburg. The tents will require sewage connections, water, electricity, and all this will complicate public access to Palace Square.

For this reason there are serious negotiations ahead. Something more clever than tents has to be thought up. After all the idea is to attract more people here through the festival than we would ordinarily have and not to frighten tourists away.

- Out of the various events that have taken place on Palace Square in the recent past, what did you like?
- I was quite satisfied with the setting up of a small platform for 9 May. It suited the arch of the General Staff complex with its chariot. Palace Square is appropriate for parades and the public taking of oaths, though for military cadets it is better to pass along the Guards Staff building, but not where regular troops march.
- Last year you said that the Paul McCartney concert would be the last rock concert on Palace Square.
- The issue was not Sir McCartney, but the aggressive rudeness of the organizers who just had to take over Palace Square. They blocked the whole Square and then produced triple the level of decibels, all of which was not needed for the concert. That’s the sort of thing we should not allow. The monuments of Petersburg should not be used as a backdrop for arrogant capital. The style of architecture should determine the nature of events on Palace Square.
- Are the Regulations on Palace Square that were issued in April 2001 still valid?
- Yes, and a new, still more detailed version is in preparation. This version provides for issue of permits for all events by the Committee on Culture of the City Administration in agreement with the Hermitage.
- And when will the new regulations take effect?
- Soon, I hope. The deadlines have already come and gone.

Mark’s Kapital
what Mark Rudinshtein is going to do on Palace Square next summer

"Gorod" N31 12 September 2005
Katya Shcherbakova

Two months ago Moscow-based cinema businessman Mark Rudinshtein announced a new and ambitious project: to hold a Class "A" international film festival in St Petersburg. Some people did not believe much would happen, saying that Rudinshtein doesn’t have the money for it; others believed it would go ahead but were not overjoyed. Angry letters demanding that the project be "banned" or "turned down" arrived in the city’s Committee on Culture.

The directors of local film festivals were especially upset. Logically they fretted that compared with Rudinshtein’s large-scale screenings their creations would look like ugly ducklings and would soon have to shut down for lack of financing. In an interview with "Gorod" they said that Golden Angel (Zolotoy Angel - as the main prize of the future festival is called) would never be: if Valentina Matviyenko should give her permission, it would be banned by Nikita Mikhalkov, who would oppose any competition to the Moscow Film Festival

Nevertheless, it is now clear that Mark Rudinshtein’s festival machinery has gotten into gear. In late August the Governor of St Petersburg signed a government decree on the holding of a Petersburg International Film Festival on Palace Square. Valentina Matviyenko herself will head the Board of Overseers of the festival. The presentation of the architectural project for a festival palace is set for November of this year.

As "Gorod" has learned, chief of the Committee on Culture Nikolai Burov has just convened the so-called organizing committee of the festival. One of the participants of the gathering, who prefers to remain unnamed, has told us that the meeting was stormy. First of all, because cinema directors Alexander Sokurov and Dmitry Meskhiev, as well as festival directors Ludmila Tomskaya ("Long live Russian cinema!"), Mikhail Litviakov ("Missive to a Person") and others were not enthusiastic about joining this organizing committee.

"No one particularly asked us what we want. They gathered everyone together to explain what was happening with ‘Angel.’ Burov acquainted us all with the decree giving the go-ahead to the festival and said everyone now should assist Rudinshtein. Then the discussion of the project began and attention turned mostly to the question of where the festival would take place. Sokurov spoke a lot. He supported the opinion of Piotrovsky that the festival can potentially be dangerous for the Hermitage. Among the expressions that were said: ‘Palace Square will be turned into one big toilet,’ ‘they will defile the architectural ensemble of the city,’ ‘they will spoil the historic patina of the square…’ Burov said he could arrange a meeting between the organizing committee and the Governor. Otherwise there was nothing he could do."

"In actual fact, it is odd to be talking about a problem of Palace Square. So far none of the members of the organizing committee has seen a model of the festival palace. No one knows in what part of the Square it will be situated. And generally there is almost no reliable information. As a result Rudinshtein will now meet separately with each of those who were present in Burov’s office. Evidently with the help of his personal charm he will try to win them over to his side"

Over at Kinomark, Mark Rudinshtein’s company, no one could shed light on the architectural plans for the festival center on Palace Square. The team charged with the festival is itself not entirely briefed on what exactly is to be built on Petersburg’s main square. What is known is that the festival palace, or more accurately the festival village will consist of 5-6 halls. We were told the following by someone in Kinomark:

"If we need more or fewer rooms, we will either add or subtract rooms. Our festival is a mobile project. It may be that in coming years the number of halls will increase regularly." In the largest of these rooms, with a planned capacity of 2,000 persons, they will hold the opening and closing ceremonies. The festival village will be built by architect Max Fisher, who arranges festivities around Europe; he was the one who built the stage for Paul McCartney’s concerts in Moscow and Petersburg."

"Inasmuch as we are working in friendly alliance with the city authorities, we will not encounter any obstacles on this path. We have also had no problems with Palace Square. This is all the more the case given that Fisher builds his castles from the lightest materials - constructions which weigh almost nothing, which are safe for the audience and for the Square."

Notwithstanding the limited transparency with respect to the organization of the festival, the festival programmers are busily working away. The main focus of the "Golden Angel" film festival is on European cinema. But there are also plans for holding special programs - without specifics as yet. One other secret that disturbs personalities in Petersburg’s cultural milieu is the financial backing of the main prizes of the festival. People say that at the meeting in Nikolai Burov’s office this question attracted the special attention of the Petersburg festival makers, who asked that Rudinshtein first prove he has the money before he gets started organizing the festival.

In the meantime Rudinshtein has himself confidently put a number on the budget of his brainchild - $5 million - and he precisely gives the dates for the festival - from 18 to 31 July.

"Sankt-Peterburgskie Vedomosti" 25 September 2005.
Excerpt from an interview with Alexander Sokurov:

- …Our great Palace Square is a staging area. To put it more properly, perhaps, it is a bulwark, a dam, holding back, if I may put it mildly, changes to the city. If this dam is destroyed, everything will be swept aside. Take Palace Square away, change its appearance - then what will remain? Where will Nevsky Prospekt lead to? What will happen to the Palace Bridge? Our city is very small. Our city is a fragile and delicate creation. I am firmly against even the temporary construction on Palace Square of a cellophane gypsy camp for some festival. It is as if you put clothing on the marble sculptures in the Summer Garden.

I am certain: the opinion of professionals in the field of culture should be the absolute priority of the city authorities. Each walk of life has its professionals. However, after my letter was received in Smolny they brought together only my colleagues, film makers. And from among professionals only Mikhail Piotrovsky was invited. He is professionally involved in defending the national heritage and his word, I considered, should be the main one. As I recall, Likhachev’s opinion helped President Yeltsin to reach a decision with respect to the burial of the tsarist family. Back then there were many discussions and many points of view. However, at the meeting in Smolny the opinion of the Director of the Hermitage was ignored. I confess that I was shocked. This is a depressing and disturbing signal.

- But wasn’t there a promise to develop a regulation governing the use of Palace Square?

- Regulation and law are different things. I am sure that a regulation will allow people to occasionally take liberties. A law is by nature tougher and its violation can be prosecuted. This is especially important today, when people choose to ignore violations in the treatment of cultural monuments and city folk themselves are unceremonious in their behavior on public squares, in parks and reserves, in museum areas. Isn’t that so? Until such time as a law is passed, I suggest we have a moratorium on any use of the main square of the city. My letter was discussed. I lost. - Who, in your opinion, should develop a set of principles for treatment of Palace Square and how should it be done?

- Hermitage lawyers. Palace Square should be turned over to the Hermitage. This would signify the start of a new era in the city’s relations with the arts, culture and with our treasure - the museums.

-How do you feel about the idea of a festival itself as proposed by Mark Rudinshtein?

- I feel indifferent to the idea itself. I am cautious, I have my fears when I hear about the promotion of cinema. I can only rely on the words of Mark Rudinshtein: for him the festival is a business. He says that two years from now he will sell the festival to someone. I heard this myself in his interview with "Ekho Moskvy" Radio. This is a typical case of a merchant growing his business.

Palace Square and cinema are just tools for this aggrandizement. Whether it is something Petersburg needs - that is something the city’s leadership has decided. And the city has passively and morosely agreed with this. I lost, but I am perfectly sure that I am in the right.

- Rudinshtein says that these lightly erected structures will be standing for just 10 days...

- The number of days is not the issue. The whole thing turns on a crude distortion of architectural space, of the architecture of the city. You just don’t read other people’s letters. You don’t even steal a glance at them. Does that have to be explained?

- Why didn’t the city fathers support you?

- I hoped that Valentina Matviyenko would suspend the Government decree if film-makers supported Piotrovsky, me and director Vladimir Bortko, who also came out categorically against holding the festival on Palace Square….In general it is an amazing situation when two film directors who are not Petersburgers by birth are fighting on behalf of the city and its own native-born inhabitants don’t see anything wrong in staging this farce on Palace Square…Meanwhile, the personalities in the cultural world who embody the spirit of Petersburg for the city authorities have gone silent even if they have known about this discussion.

- Why is that so?

- It seems to me that the part of society which is known as the intelligentsia and the «elite» is so frightened that it has forgotten about its public function. They are unable, and already do not want to exert any influence whatsoever on the country’s culture. And it is not the authorities who are to blame for this. This is a social illness of the people at large, who are frightened to death of Russia’s capitalist banditry.

- What comes next, in your view ?

- Everything will be done by all means to dispose Piotrovsky to a tortuous "compromise." OK, let this festival be. It’s all interconnected. The collapse of mores is, alas, heading towards a critical point. We all know what is happening in the areas of race and inter-ethnic relations. On holidays you see thousands, thousands (!) of drunken young people out on the streets. Popular concerts for the masses on that very same Palace Square are on a level that it is shameful to recall. And this is all going on in a city where there are hundreds and hundreds of superb artists and troupes….

A profitable location

"Izvestiya" 6 October 2005
Yulia Kantor, leading researcher of the State Hermitage

"Give Palace Square a breath of fresh air," "Allow this Square to become the parlor of the city," "The cultural capital should have its own film festival": these are the calls that ring in one’s ears and are heating up Petersburg’s pride as a pseudo-capital. There is one further "ring" to be heard - the jingle of coins: "Palace Square should bring some income to the city."

All of this talk relates to Mark Rudinshtein’s idea of holding a "European" film festival on Palace Square. Why not enjoy it all? We are promised both bread and circus…. Palace Square is the symbol of Russian statehood. An absolutely harmonious historical and cultural space will become, if this idea is implemented, a profitable location - a place where personalities from the world of culture can satisfy their artistic (and other) ambitions. Tens of thousands of tourists from around the whole world come for the White Nights to stroll along the banks of the Neva. It is precisely in June that the organizers are intending to treat them to a new film festival. The one-of-a-kind walking route from the Admiralty to Palace Square, to the Hermitage, across the Pevchesky Bride to the Apartment Museum of Pushkin: all this will be closed next summer. Pavilions for the screening of films will appear on the Square, which will be off-limits to lovers of beauty and not kitsch for a minimum of two weeks. This "parlor" of a square will receive an entirely different sort of public.

The entrance to the Hermitage is from Palace Square. Does this mean that in June the work of the museum will be paralyzed? Who is calculating the damage? And who dares to take responsibility for the museum’s security for the two weeks when the Square is turned into an entertainment establishment? The city leadership likes the idea: the Petersburg Government have issued a decree concerning the holding of a film festival on Palace Square during the summer of 2006. Smolny always has viewed the possibilities of using Palace Square in a utilitarian manner. History repeats itself, this time as farce. In 1918 the Armorial and Nicholas Halls of the Palace were regularly used for film screenings. While it is true that the Bolsheviks exploited the national heritage, their goal was a bit more appealing than those who today want to put money in the kitty. Following the Revolution there was thought given to enlightening the masses, not to making money off entertainment for the enrichment of those breaking through to the elite. At city hall cinema is once again declared to be the king of arts. The creative intellectual vanguard was invited there for a discussion of the question and nearly unanimously said "yes." Alexei German tried especially hard. The exceptions amidst the creative "mass" were just Alexander Sokurov and Vladimir Bortko, artists who differ a great deal in their worldviews but both political and economic situations make strange bedfellows. Meanwhile the Hermitage director came under attack, as it was remarked that Piotrovsky, who is opposed to the festival, has gone too far and is defending what does not belong to him. And it is true that Palace Square does not belong to Piotrovsky. Neither does it belong to the city. It belongs to the world, notwithstanding the wishes of Mr Rudinshtein, who is trying to turn it into his personal parlor.

The Festival on Palace Square is Open to Everyone

"Izvestiya" 10 October 2005
Mark Rudinshtein, producer, ex-president of the Kinotavr Group of companies, organizer of the "Faces of Love" festival

The idea of staging a film festival on St Petersburg’s Palace Square has unleashed a stormy polemic. Leading Hermitage researcher Yulia Kantor has set out the point of view of those opposed to having the festival in the historical and cultural center of the city in the "Izvestiya" issue of 06.10.2005, in an article entitled "A Profitable Location." Now we set out the arguments of the festival organizers. Everything that is written in Yulia Kantor’s article is mistaken. She writes that "in June the work of the museum will be paralyzed." It will not be so. We have agreed that the Square will be entirely open. All events will take place at a distance of 100 meters from the Hermitage. In this way we will not manage to paralyze the work of the Hermitage. It is also unjust to say that ‘the one-of-a-kind walking route from the Admiralty to Palace Square, to the Hermitage, across the Pevchesky Bride to the Apartment Museum of Pushkin: all this will be closed.’ It will not be closed! Where did such information come from? Perhaps it would have been better to have spoken with me, to have learned what we are planning before letting oneself be guided by one’s own imagination and writing all this. Quite the contrary is true: the Square will be entirely open and our objective is to draw in to this event as many people as possible, allowing them to freely circulate on Palace Square. The criticism regarding the exclusive, elite character of the festival does not stand up to criticism, to put it mildly. Nearly all the films will be available for viewing without entrance fee. Of course, there will be security present as is true at all big public events whether they be in Moscow or Venice or anywhere else in the world. But the presence of security personnel will not complicate entrance to the festival events, just make them safer. It is strange that we have to prove such obvious things. Of course, it is an ambitious project we are undertaking as we plan to become one of the best European festivals in three or four years. In general the concept of the festival is the history of European art through cinema. We will bring together producers working in different tendencies of art. We will be talking about the defense of European culture. We hope that the research group from the Hermitage, whom we intend to support financially, will take a very active part in the preparations for our festival. Without such close collaboration with the Hermitage, any "culturological" program on the Square will fail. I would like to present the city with a gift and create a festival of the highest standards, and what I hear is the accusation that I want to turn Palace Square into my personal drawing room! As you may know, I have a bit of money and I would do better to buy myself a house.

Mikhail Piotrovsky Opposes Staging Festivals in Front of the Hermitage Building

"La Stampa" 13 October 2005
Francesca Sforza

Art and money. Big art and big money. This game is being played out in the center of one of the most beautiful squares of the world, St Petersburg’s Palace Square, and the stakes are very high. "Someone wants the death of the Hermitage’s Director," say those who are fully abreast of the situation that has developed. In the background there is the city administration where intrigue, corruption and double-dealing predominate.

This not the story line of some new detective novel, but the real story of the latest challenge facing Hermitage Director Mikhail Piotrovsky, who together with representatives of the intelligentsia and artists has spoken out against those who wish to bring to St Petersburg international festivals and concerts of the foreign variety and have opposed the sponsors of such events, who are capable of arranging a fight against malcontents. "A situation like this has not been seen since the days of the Bolshevik onslaught," writes the city’s internet newspaper "Fontanka.ru."

The war for Palace Square began in June of last year after the Paul McCartney concert. Piotrovsky, who has been director of the Hermitage since 1992 and is the son of the former director of the museum, practically grew up alongside the Scythian gold. He armed himself with pen and paper and sent in a tough commentary to the newspaper "Izvestiya": "What happened last night at the concert of Paul McCartney is an example of what should never happen next to the museum. More than 60,000 people sang, danced and pranced around several hundred meters from the canvases of Matisse and Leonardo, Giorgione and Manet."

"When we lend our paintings out to other museums, where possible we avoid transporting them by air in order to avoid destruction to the canvases from vibration," an irate Piotrovsky declared. "So just imagine what could happen in the course of an entire night when the vibrations were incomparably greater than in any aircraft. This is an unacceptable act of destruction and I will fight to see that it is never repeated."

However, after McCartney came Joe Cocker, though this time Piotrovsky succeeded in forcing the organizers to move the amplifiers to the side of the Square opposite the museum. Then a few weeks ago there came the announcement of plans to hold a film festival lasting 13 days on the Square, with more than a million visitors expected to come. The idea has been put forward by Mark Rudinshtein, a director who presently is active in business and has many contacts in the world of New Russian capital.

"When I arrive in one or another city, I never go to museums," Rudinshtein said in answer to Piotrovsky’s accusation. "The first thing I do is to sit down in a cafe on the square and admire the panorama. Only after I have done that can I say that I know the city." Therefore, according to Rudinshtein’s plan, six screening halls and a conference hall will be erected for the festival, and there will also appear on Palace Square a bar, a cafe, little restaurants and beer gardens. "I cannot bear to think of the number of night spots and public toilets that will kill the central part of our city," Piotrovsky responded.

Two entirely different representatives of culture have been drawn into this contest. One is used to strolling every day through 300 rooms which once belonged to the Romanovs. He dreams of turning his museum into a worthy competitor of the Louvre. The other prefers to organize public events for the masses and to use sponsors’ money. There are also demands coming from the local administration, which is torn between the need to support one of the most authoritative personalities of the city, who is, inter alia, a good friend of President Putin, and the wish to finally fill the impoverished Treasury of Petersburg.

"Piotrovsky is the main obstacle on the road to big business," the director of the film "The Russian Ark," Alexander Sokurov, says in an open letter. Sokurov is concerned about the situation that has developed. "I am afraid his life is in danger."

Governor of St Petersburg Valentina Matviyenko has tried to calm everyone down. She has appointed a commission to decide about the future of Palace Square. However, the officials themselves have their doubts about the success of this initiative. "I agreed to participate in the project," says Alexander Mamontov, who is responsible for staging the new festival. "I admit that our predecessors did not think about events like this when they built Palace Square."

What now? "This is a sign of the intensity of the pressure," says Sokurov, who is trying not to pronounce the name of the one who is likely responsible. "Mark Rudinshtein is a good director who has done a great deal to promote Russian cinema but he has now become a businessman, and for these people money comes first."

In his latest interview with the radio station "Ekho Moskvy," Rudinstein announced his intention to work on the "Golden Angel" festival (as the project is called) for the next two years. He already knows whom he will sell it to. "The dividing up of the money has already begun," comments Sokurov, who is worried. "This is not some commission for deciding the fate of Palace Square!"

Piotrovsky has not left his office in the Hermitage for several days now and is maintaining a stony silence. People who know him understand this is not out of fear for his life. But in Russia, this country of easy money, it is always better to know what is going on behind your back.