Famous Odessa Potemkin Stairs become a Treasure of European Film Culture

On the occasion of the 6th Odessa International Film Festival, taking place from 10 – 18 July, the European Film Academy will award the Potemkin Stairs in Odessa the title “Treasure of European Film Culture”.

The Potemkin Stairs are undoubtedly one of the most famous historical film locations in the world, where great Sergei Eisenstein shot his masterpiece Battleship Potemkin 90 years ago.

“During a ceremony a special “Treasure of European Film Culture” emblem will be inaugurated next to the Potemkin Stairs”, the EFA official statement says. “With this title the European Film Academy wishes to raise public awareness for places of a symbolic nature for European cinema, places of historical value that need to be maintained and protected not just now but also for generations to come.”

The Potemkin Stairs are the fifth location to be awarded by the European Film Academy. Treasures of European Film Culture include: the Eisenstein Memorial Centre in Moscow, the House of the brothers Lumière in Lyon, the Bergman Center in Faro and the World of Tonino Guerra in Pennabilli.

The awarding ceremony will take place 11 July at 21:30 Kyiv time.

The Potemkin Stairs have also become popular due to open air screenings of international silent film classics accompanied by live music in the framework of the Odessa International Film Festival. Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin was the first to be screened on the Stairs followed by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, Charlie Chaplin’s City Lights and Alfred Hitchcock’s Blackmail.

This is year thousands of Odessa residents and guests will adorn the Potemkin Stairs again to watch Dziga Vertov’s documentary A Man with a Movie Camera (1929) accompanied by the life score of British composer Michael Nyman.

Don’t miss the 6th Odessa International Film Festival. The details are available here.

Aleksandra Demskaya, EMPR.

Данная публикация также доступна на русском языке.