The Year of Russian Cinema-2016: Exhibition "Leo Tolstoy and the cinema" in Yasnaya Polyana

September 21, 2016 in the Gallery "Yasnaya Polyana" (the Tula region) was opened the exhibition "The light shines in the darkness (Leo Tolstoy and cinema)". The exhibition is organized by the State Memorial and Natural Preserve "Museum-Estate of Leo Tolstoy" Yasnaya Polyana", the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy (Moscow) and the State Central Museum of Cinema in the framework of the Year of Russian cinema. 

The purpose of the exhibition - to trace the history of the interaction between the two variables: Tolstoy and cinema in the process of their development, including the convergence of points of divergence, exclusion, search, etc. It is also the story of the incarnation of the on-screen artistic heritage of Leo Tolstoy, who, as evidenced by film critics, had a special gift of the cinematic treatment of time and space. One of the objectives of the exhibition - to show the work of filmmakers, their understanding and reproduction of images of the heroes of Tolstoy on the screen, and the image of the writer.

The exhibition presents the materials about the development of the cinema, starting with the first attempts to capture "living Tolstoy", to create films based on his works and artistic interpretations of his last days of life.

The exhibition includes unique items from Yasnaya Polyana memorial house: mimeograph, presented by the inventor Thomas Edison, and a stereo stereoscope of the Tolstoy family, photographic camera and the writer's wife. All these innovations and technical progress of the late XIX - early XX century show, on the one hand, the interest in the family of Leo Tolstoy to the latest inventions, and on the other hand, it shows how was the development of the art of cinema as a technological invention - to the art of cinema.

Through cinema, born during the life of Leo Tolstoy, the living image of the writer is preserved for future generations. Newsreel Footage are central to the exhibition.

Until now, the work o a classic of Russian literature is not indifferent to filmmakers, and every generation finds for themselves something new and gives a modern interpretation of the works of Tolstoy on the screen.