Foxtrot Films

creative original storytelling
films by Margy Kinmonth

Russian Art + Culture

Laughter is the Best Medicine

REVOLUTION Director of Photography Gennady Nemikh with Margy Kinmonth filming in Moscow before social distancing. Photo © www.foxtrotfilms.com

Love In a Nutshell is a stage adaptation of Anton Chekhov’s selected short stories exploring love and relationships – poignant and hilarious stories.

Film Director Margy Kinmonth went to see the performance:

The intimate atmosphere and proximity of the cast reminds me of my experiences while researching my Russian films, watching performances in Moscow and St Petersburg, where music, poetry and plays are regularly staged in the small apartment museums.

(See my film REVOLUTION – NEW ART FOR A NEW WORLD available on DVD: store.foxtrotfilms.com.)

One of Russia’s greatest writers, Anton Chekhov (1860 – 1904) wrote hundreds of short stories. He started out writing jokes and anecdotes for popular magazines to earn money, while studying to become a doctor. He knew how to help others.

He gives his characters boundless imagination and a sense of humour as their means of escape. And in today’s times, laughter is the best medicine. 

Read full article by Margy Kinmonth: Timeless Chekhov Short Stories published in Russian Art + Culture on 3 April 2020.

Uncle Vanya: Tragicomic tale of unrequited love…

State Theatre Museum, St Petersburg. Photo © Margy Kinmonth

Director Margy Kinmonth writes:

When researching my Russian films I delved into the vast collection of Russian theatre memorabilia, at the State Theatre Museum in St Petersburg, including Checkhov’s original costumes and photos.

I saw the play Uncle Vanya recently and here’s my piece for Russian Art + Culture, published on 18 March 2020:
UNCLE VANYA: a tragicomical tale of unrequited love, ageing and disappointment

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.