Science fiction pushes the boundaries, explores the improbable, and envisions the future of humanity. It also exposes us to extravagant visual effects and the inventive power of cinema, reflecting our deepest fantasies. In cinema, science fiction is immersive, creating worlds suddenly within our reach. This summer, over one hundred films from the history of cinema will allow us to witness this!
Accompanied on the piano by Chantale Morin
Shot with great means and enthusiastically acclaimed by Soviet audiences, Aelita, through the story of a trip to Mars, is a tasty portrait of Moscow life in the era of the New Economic Policy (NEP); it's also a celebration of socialist society as opposed to capitalist society.
Yakov Protazanov
Yakov Protazanov was a Russian and Soviet film director, screenwriter, actor, and producer. In 1910, he was hired by Paul Timan, who was establishing a new company, and he directed several silent films with Vladimir Gardin. His first film for Timan, The Convict’s Song (1911), was a success. Of the forty or so films he made during this period, notable ones include Departure of a Grand Old Man (1912) and Drama by the Telephone (1914). By 1914, he had already built a solid reputation when he was hired by Joseph Ermolieff alongside actor Ivan Mozzhukhin, with whom he created some of his pre-revolutionary masterpieces. The February Revolution of 1917 provided Protazanov with the opportunity to direct a few films with revolutionary themes. That year, he filmed Father Sergius, one of the masterpieces of silent cinema. He continued to make films in Crimea before emigrating to France for a few projects. Protazanov returned to Russia in 1923, just before it became the USSR, where he directed adventure films and comedies such as Aelita (1924), The Case of the Three Million (1926), and The White Eagle (1928). He continued making films until the early 1940s.
