Documentaries and eyewitness accounts of Leningrad Siege to be shown on Presidential Library's TV channel

16 January 2025

From January 16 to 31, the Presidential Library will broadcast a series of films and video lectures about the daily life of a besieged city, the holy places of Russia during the era of the Sovereign of All Russia, and the discovery of Antarctica on the TV Channel channel.

On January 18, a screening of the documentary film The Siege, directed by Sergei Loznitsa, will take place. The film was created based on archival materials from the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio and includes fragments from films such as Leningrad in the Struggle, 900 Unforgettable Days, The Heroism of Leningrad, and The People's Verdict. The film commemorates the 82nd anniversary of the lifting of the siege of Leningrad.

Alexey Oliferuk's film, Siege Frescoes, is dedicated to the little-known pages of life in the besieged city. The TV project was created based on recordings of interviews with direct witnesses and participants in the siege of Leningrad. The film focuses on the daily life of Leningraders and shows the work of shops, hospitals, orphanages, and factories through the eyes of workers, nurses, and veterans of the local air defense.

The video lectures The Siege Tram: In the Struggle for the Life of the City and About War and Victory in the Language of a Book, based on the works of Olga Bergolt and Daniil Granin and Aleksandr Adamovich's Siege Book, tell about the feat of Leningrad and the war.

On the same day, users will have the opportunity to meet with Ninel Viktorovna Krasnolutskaya, Zinaida Arkadyevna Fedyushina, and Lyudmila Alexandrovna Fedorova, all of whom survived the terrible 900 days of the siege in the besieged city. Videos of their interviews will be shown online.

On January 19th, the Epiphany feast, a screening of videos related to Orthodox topics will take place. Thanks to the video recording of the informative and methodical webinar Sacred Places of Russia, one can learn about guides to churches and monasteries, descriptions of temples, the lives of abbots, church publications, collections of the most revered icons, and other materials available in the library's digital collection. During the webinar, Father Alexander Tikhomirov will discuss how pilgrimage can impact a person's life.

On January 22nd, we will be celebrating the 585th anniversary of the birth of Ivan III, also known as Ivan the Great, the Grand Duke of Moscow. As part of the Presidential Library's Knowledge of Russia: Video Lectures project, we will broadcast video lectures that will tell us about this important historical figure and his era.

These lectures will focus on the reign of Ivan the Great as the Sovereign of All Russia and Collector of Russian Lands. We will learn about his relationship with the aristocracy, as well as how he appears in the chronicles written by his contemporaries.

Additionally, we will explore the significance of the 305th anniversary, which occurred on January 24th, 1720. On this day, Peter the Great signed the first Russian Maritime Charter. This charter was developed over several years with Peter's active participation, and it is described in detail in our video lecture Peter the Great's Naval Regulations and Military Legislation of Peter's Time.

On January 27th, the 81st anniversary of the complete liberation of Leningrad from the Nazi siege, a screening of the documentary Marshal of Victory Govorov was held, dedicated to the hero of the Soviet Union who was often referred to as our Leningrad Marshal. From June 1942 until the end of the war, Leonid Alexandrovich Govorov served as commander of the Leningrad Front, leading operations to break the siege and then completely liberate Leningrad.

This legendary man participated in the Civil War, the Soviet-Finnish War (1939-1940), and the Great Patriotic War, rising from a junior officer in a mortar battery to Marshal of the Soviet Union. The film was shot at locations related to Govorov's life, including his homeland in the village of Butyrki, Kirov Region, and places where people cherish his memory, such as Yelabuga, Simferopol, Vyborg, and Moscow.

January 28 marks the 205th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica. This historic event was made possible by the first Russian Antarctic expedition, which was led by Faddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Petrovich Lazarev on the sloops Vostok and Mirny. To commemorate this occasion, the Presidential Library will be hosting a webinar titled The Image of the Arctic and Antarctic in the Diaries and Memoirs of Polar Explorers: An Overview of Materials from the Presidential Library Collection.

Especially for students, the Presidential Library portal offers video lectures on a variety of topics that complement the school curriculum. One such lecture, titled Knowledge of Russia, explores the main areas of the Presidential Library's collection: the history of the Russian state, law, and the role of Russian as the official language in the Russian Federation. Experts from leading scientific and educational institutions in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other Russian cities deliver these lectures to students.

Films and video lectures are broadcasted on the Presidential Library's portal around the clock in the TV Channel section. Additionally, the schedule for upcoming broadcasts is also available in this section.

Please note that in the Live broadcasts section, the library's events are broadcast live and the program for the upcoming days is published.

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