In the course “Ideology and Viewers: East European Film and Media” students discussed a 1990 Soviet film about the Chernobyl disaster, its ideological framework evident in the government and local responses and the way the director depicts them. More excitedly, students could also analyze Kostova’s mini-documentary film finished in February of 2021 and compare the ideological positions of the two films. The students found particularly insightful Kostova’s link of Chernobyl to COVID and the governments handling of each health crisis. About the ideological position of Kostova, one student remarks: “The documentary narrative criticizes the lies of the government and their cowardness. It relies on archive images and testimonies of Bulgarian women who remembered that period. One of them is a physicist and uses scientific words and graphs to support her arguments, which make her very persuasive. The documentary puts also an emphasis on the dramatic side of the situation, using sad music and showing shocking images, … .”

Another responds to the link between Chernobyl and COVID: “’The Truth about Chernobyl…’ makes a stark comparison to the effort made by conservative leaders in America and the United Kingdom to cover up information about COVID-19. Though the film is clearly biased against the Communist regimes and interviewees that offer a different perspective are not included, the lesson of the film is better understood by the comparison to the modern situation. The people, when governments decide to withhold truth from the masses, will create and circulate their own fallacious versions of reality, all the while leading to less action in resolving the situation and compounding suffering.” Similarly, yet another observation focuses on the danger of misinformation regarding health crisis: “This film highlights the effective use of silence as a form of propaganda, and how quickly misinformation spread among the people when the government and media were silent.” Some appreciated the personal testimonies, while again praising the effective comparison between Chernobyl and COVID: “I found the interview segments with the three Bulgarian women the most fascinating. Usually, in discussions of Chornobyl, we focus on Ukraine and USSR, sometimes on Belarus, but the rest of the world is left unnoticed. […] The decision to tie it with the pandemic is fascinating too, and I especially loved the comparisons of how the authorities and people expressed similar attitudes towards the two events.”

Two filmmakers, Michael Idov and Miroslav Savic, participated in two of our classes and talked to our students. Michael Idov, whose TV series Optimists (Video Prime) is being used as a course material in a popular course, The Russian Spy: Culture of Surveillance, Agents, and Hackers Zoomed in from Turkey where he was shooting on location. A conversation with him attracted over 50 participants from OSU and other universities and colleges. Guided by questions prepared by Drs. Alisa Lin (who teaches the course) and Yana Hashamova, Michael Idov shared his experience of creating films in Russia as a Russian-American, about Russia’s conditions of topical restrictions and at the same time opportunities, and about working under COVID. Particularly insightful was his comment that COVID is creating new opportunities for audiences and providing new access. Particularly, he discussed the blurring of cinematic genres and of diversifying the viewing experience of the spectator. From the big screen and dark house to computer, tablet, and smart phones screens, viewers are engaging with TV and film as never before which in turn forces creators to consider experimenting with genres and platforms.

Miroslav Savic presented on the topic “The Role of Cinema in Coping with Burdensome Past” to the students in my Slavic 5457 class, “Ideology and Viewers: East European Film and Media.” He commented on two recent films by Serbian filmmaker Ognjen Glavonic, films which address the problematic conflict between Serbia and Kosovo and which have received little domestic recognition and much international acclaim. Students asked quested about the audience experience under COVID and more generally about the funding and distribution of films in the Balkans. Participants included students from the course as well as students from the Slavic Studies MA program and faculty from OSU and Kenyon college.

Audiences and Online Reception: Before and After COVID is a year-long series of online symposia that examines the impact of COVID-19 and quarantine experiences on artistic and cultural production. Please join us for the following Spring 2021 events. All programming is FREE and open to the general public with registration.

The Role of Cinema in Coping with Burdensome Pasts

Monday, March 1st // 12:00-1:00 PM (ET) 

Zoom // Registration Required // go.osu.edu/Savic

Movement Practice with Dege Feder

Wednesday, March 10^th // 8:30-10:00 AM (ET)

Zoom // Registration Required // go.osu.edu/Feder

Dege Feder is a choreographer, dancer, artistic director, and musician. She danced solo parts in Eskesta Dance Troupe and was among the founding dancers of Beta Dance Troupe. She has served as Beta’s artistic director and choreographer since 2013. She has performed in many international festivals in Germany, France, Columbia, Croatia, South Africa, USA, and more.

The movement practice workshop will be based on a movement language that was developed by Dege in her work with Beta Dance Troupe. This language combines techniques and styles from traditional Ethiopian dance adapted and combined with contemporary dance. The workshop will focus mainly on the Eskesta dance style that concentrates on the upper parts of the body and particularly on the shoulders. This event will feature a question-and-answer session moderated by Dr. Hannah Kosstrin, Associate Professor of Dance.

This is Where We Dance Now: Covid-19 and the New and Next in Dance Onscreen

Online symposium and special issue of The International Journal of Screendance

Friday, March 12^th // 8:00-9:15 PM (ET)

Saturday, March 13^th // 12:00-1:15 PM (ET) // 2:00-3:15 PM (ET)

Friday, March 19^th // 8:00-9:15 PM (ET)

Saturday, March 20^th // 8:00-9:15 PM (ET) // 2:00-3:15 PM (ET)

Zoom // Registration Required // go.osu.edu/Screendance

Join “Audiences and Online Reception: Before and After COVID” for an online symposium where authors from the forthcoming special issue of The International Journal for Screendance share their perspectives on how COVID-19 has rewritten the playbook for dance onscreen and dance online.

Activities once on the sidelines of the dance field are the new normal: teaching technique on Zoom, holding online dance film festivals, DJing house parties on Instagram, streaming archival performance documentation, making TikToks. This Is Where We Dance Now will critically examine the changes to dance and screendance practices unfolding in the current era of quarantine and social distancing. Although the long-term implications of this upheaval remain to be seen, for now, we are seeing the culmination of a trend that has been developing over the past two decades or more: now all dance is screendance. For more information about this free symposium, visit https://u.osu.edu/thisiswherewedancenow/

Composition with Danielle Agami

Thursday, March 25^th // 3:30-5:00 PM (ET)

Zoom // Registration Required // go.osu.edu/Agami

Israeli choreographer Danielle Agami founded Ate9 as a platform for innovative movement and artistic research. With Ate9 she has created choreographies and numerous site-specific performances and collaborations with local LA institutions. Before founding her own company, Agami danced with Ohad Naharin’s Batsheva Dance Company where she was appointed rehearsal director from 2007-10.

Agami will led a composition master class that will bring participants both inwards and outwards. Class will explain, ignite, and experience a generous exchange of ideas for movement and expression. This event will feature a question-and-answer session moderated by Dr. Hannah Kosstrin, Associate Professor of Dance.

If you require an accommodation such as live captioning or interpretation to participate in this event, please contact Lyndsey Vader at vader.6@osu.edu Requests made two weeks before the event will generally allow us to provide seamless access, but the university will make every effort to meet requests made after this date.

This series is made possible through a Global Arts + Humanities Discovery Theme Special Grant. For more information on upcoming events, visit https://u.osu.edu/audiencesandonlinereception/.