Foxtrot Films

creative original storytelling
films by Margy Kinmonth

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

Switching on the British Embassy Illuminations

Director Margy Kinmonth writes:

I was honoured to be invited by Ambassador Sir Laurie and Lady Bristow, to switch on the Christmas Lights in the British Embassy Moscow, and screen my feature documentary films, both Russian and British work, in an amazing evening at the residence. This was such a fabulous treat, thank you so much, here are some highlights:

(Please click on the thumbnails to scroll through the gallery)

Margy and the tree
Margy with Natalia Polenova, great granddaughter of the landscape artist Vasily Polenov with producer Evgeny Grindilis
Margy & Xander Parish OBE principal dancer of Mariinsky Theatre, in the ballroom
Zelfira Tregulova, Director the the State Tretyakov Gallery Moscow who featured in “Revolution – New Art for a New World”, with Margy
Margy and Vladimir Shukhov, grandson of engineer who built the ShukhovTower, featured in my film “Revolution – New Art for a New World”
Margy, Zelfira Tregulova, Victoria Broackes and Geoffrey Marsh of V & A Museum
Guests at the screening
Director Margy Kinmonth and British Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow under the portrait of Queen Victoria at the British Embassy Residence Moscow
Ambassador Sir Laurie Bristow, Margy, with Xander Parish OBE – principal dancer Mariinsky Ballet St Petersburg
Anna Jackson-Stevens
At the party
Lady Bristow, Jan Latham-Koenig, Sir Laurie Bristow and MK. Illuminations ceremony!
Margy switching on the tree
Conductor Jan Latham-Koenig and Margy
State Tretyakov Gallery curators Daria Manucharova, Dr Eleanor Paston – curator of Vasily Polenov exhibition and Margy
State Tretyakov Gallery curators Daria Manucharova, Dr Eleanor Paston – curator of Vasily Polenov exhibition and Margy
On the balcony just across from the Kremlin, with Lady Bristow and Sir Laurie, sub zero – very bracing!
Lighting the tree
Kremlin just across the Moscow River
Xander Parish OBE and Margy on balcony

Highlights of the films shown include, all available at store.foxtrotfilms.com:

Festive Nutcrackers

Start off the countdown to Christmas with two scenes from Foxtrot Films’ Nutcracker Story.

Get the DVD here.

Nathan Lane & Nutcracker ‘The True Story’

I was so lucky to film on the set of Nutcracker -True Story and interview child star Elle Fanning and the legendary comic genius Nathan Lane (Angels in America), Richard E Grant and Julia Konchalovsky all on set together.

Margy Kinmonth

Gerald Scarfe – ENB Nutcracker

I loved watching brilliant cartoonist Gerald Scarfe create his inky drawings as I filmed, adding his uniquely wicked political dimension to the characters.

Margy Kinmonth