Foxtrot Films

creative original storytelling
films by Margy Kinmonth

Archives for February 2020

Filming Russian Ballet Icons

Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, St Petersburg
Famous ballerinas donate their shoes to inspire future generations. Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet, St Petersburg ©Margy Kinmonth

My evening at the Russian Ballet Icons Gala Russian Ballet Icons Gala at the London Coliseum sparked many dazzling memories for me. Experiencing those amazing dancers perform nearly a dozen different pieces from traditional classical masterpieces to contemporary repertoire, transported me to magic moments of some of the ballet films I have directed, especially the Mariinsky Theatre film, celebrating it’s 225th anniversary in Saint Petersburg as the pinnacle.

I filmed ballet over a period of several years, working closely with Maestro Valery Gergiev, witnessing the teaching process of “handing down” and capturing the very best performances on film. Observational filming took place at the Vaganova Ballet Academy in St Petersburg, home of the Imperial Russian classical ballet.  […]

Read full article by Margy Kinmonth: RUSSIAN BALLET ICONS: “THE OTHER WORLD” published in Russian Art + Culture on 27 February 2020.

Artists in the Gulag

Doors from Gulag camps, Gulag History Museum Moscow. © Margy Kinmonth
Doors from Gulag camps, Gulag History Museum Moscow. © Margy Kinmonth

I visited the new Gulag History Museum in Moscow. Entering the small modest red brick building, tucked away in a side street in the North of Moscow, little prepares you for what lies within…

You enter a dark expanse. At first glance it feels just like an art gallery – a vast warehouse space with what seem like large paintings hanging in limbo, each one dramatically lit. On closer inspection these turn out to be doors – different colours, textures, battered by use, plastered with locks, bolts, caged peepholes and scrawled with numbers. Preserved and now transported thousands of miles to this location for exhibition, these gateways are what remain of Russia’s Gulag prison system. […]

Read full article by Margy Kinmonth: THINKING ABOUT ARTISTS IN GULAG HISTORY published in Russian Art + Culture on 14 February 2020.

Royal Treasure Trove

HRH The Prince of Wales with director Margy Kinmonth during the filming of Royal Paintbox

Royal Paintbox screening with talk by film director Margy Kinmonth on Monday 17th February at 5.00 pm, Chelsea Arts Club, London.

Director Margy Kinmonth writes:

I’m really looking forward to showing my feature documentary Royal Paintbox to an audience of working artists, at my club.
When I was making the film I discovered that there are dozens of artists within the royal family, both amateur and professional, both historical and today.
HRH The Prince of Wales showed me his watercolours and I uncovered some gems from history locked away in archives.
We filmed in so many palaces, at Balmoral, Osborne House, Clarence House, Birkhall, Highgrove and Windsor Castle and I even went with the royal tour to Australia.
So If you can’t make the the screening, buy the DVD which has great extra stories not included in the film.

Great Russian Landscape

Margy Kinmonth at Vasily Polenov exhibition
Christ and the Sinners by Vasily Polenov
Christ and the Sinners by Vasily Polenov

Director Margy Kinmonth writes:

I visited the Vasily Polenov exhibition – the great 19th century Russian landscape painter, at State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, where record visitor numbers of over 400,000 have far exceeded Repin. I recce’d Polenovo – the artist’s house located 103 km south of Moscow on the Oka River in Tula region, which was the German front line 1941. Quite unchanged.

Vasily Polenov’s Studio at Polenovo

Vasily Polenov is very modern because his thoughts, his understanding of traditions, the history, the culture and the people’s enlightment are highly relevant today…
Natalya Polenov: director Polonovo Museum