Che-Paev

Leningrad film group. To quote from a booklet that they produced: 'The Leningrad cinematic group "Che-paev" was organized in the Spring of 1988 as a creative laboratory of the world wide Chapaev society'. The group set itself the task of theoretical research in the area of contemporary cinematography, and also practical propaganda of total Chapaevian ideas. The main direction of the group can be seen in its name, which unites the names of two key figures of the heroic pantheon - Ernesto Che Gevaro and V. I Chapaev. The artistic manner of the group was formed directly under the influence of the Leningrad 'New Cinema', particularly by such representatives as Evgeny Kondratyev, Evgeny Ufit and Andrey Mertviy. The concept of single heroic time, developed by art theoretician Olga Lepestkova had a particular influence on the group.

The group produced the films: 'Alchoholism - to Battle!', 'Present to a Lonely Moscovite', 'Battle for the Navy', 'Details of Icing-Over', 'Symmetrical Cinema', 'Movement', 'Chapaev'.

As Alexei Feoktistov wrote in his article: 'the film group "Che-Paev" presents the concept of true Marxist-Leninist cinema, in as much as the universal improvement of authentic realty automatically assumes the total improvement of the individual. Practically speaking, they suggest an improvement of social consciousness through cinema'.

Apart from Olga Lepestkova and Alexei Feoktistov, Maxmud Pizhamskii also joined the group, the poet Kirill Sluchainiy and the composer Zakhar Nikolaev cooperate closely with it.