The International Literary Forum reflected on how the arts affect each other
The fortunes of text give cause for concern, opined the roundtable chairman Ivan Kudryavtsev, host of the Film Industry show and program director of the Moscow International Film Festival. Would it be wrong to say that literature, even popular fiction with its massive print runs, has been left behind by aggressive visual media? Or is the cultural phenomenon of literature impregnable?
“I don’t believe that text can ever be sidelined”, said Turkish writer and film director Ömer Zülfü Livaneli. “People have always told stories. It’s a method of getting to know life. But images inevitably age. Each generation films its own Anna Karenina. But text is universal and eternal”.
Yasnaya Polyana Prize winner, North Macedonian writer Venko Andonovski admitted that stage productions of his works often make him feel uneasy.
“My friends, the stage directors, keep me locked out until the full rehearsal, when it’s too late to change anything. I’m usually tensed and disappointed: I feel misunderstood! But in fact, everything is super. It’s just a different language, a whole different world, a different craft”.
Author, director and screenwriter Arseny Gonchukov agrees. In his perception, literature is “the mother of all arts”, whereas cinematography is a “sharp little whiz kid”.
“Text impacts people differently, not like plays or films”, Gonchukov reflects. “The director gives viewers a tailored reality, while the writer gives them a DIY kit. The way of the book is definitely the more energy-intensive option”.
Brazilian author, director and composer Luiz Carlos Ribeiro Prestes flew in all the way from Brazil to attend the forum. He told the roundtable about his new book - a “heroic trilogy” about the colonization of Brazil. The book is a complex “synthesis” of several genres and media, featuring paintings, photographs and orchestral pieces, as well as text as such.
“In a sense, the Carnival of Brazil is also a multi-genre phenomenon”, said the author in his closing remarks. “There are 94 samba schools in Rio, and not a single carnival theme has been repeated in the past hundred years. The participants seek inspiration in poetry, prose and music, they rediscover folk crafts and historic events of the past”.
“I don’t believe that text can ever be sidelined”, said Turkish writer and film director Ömer Zülfü Livaneli. “People have always told stories. It’s a method of getting to know life. But images inevitably age. Each generation films its own Anna Karenina. But text is universal and eternal”.
Yasnaya Polyana Prize winner, North Macedonian writer Venko Andonovski admitted that stage productions of his works often make him feel uneasy.
“My friends, the stage directors, keep me locked out until the full rehearsal, when it’s too late to change anything. I’m usually tensed and disappointed: I feel misunderstood! But in fact, everything is super. It’s just a different language, a whole different world, a different craft”.
Author, director and screenwriter Arseny Gonchukov agrees. In his perception, literature is “the mother of all arts”, whereas cinematography is a “sharp little whiz kid”.
“Text impacts people differently, not like plays or films”, Gonchukov reflects. “The director gives viewers a tailored reality, while the writer gives them a DIY kit. The way of the book is definitely the more energy-intensive option”.
Brazilian author, director and composer Luiz Carlos Ribeiro Prestes flew in all the way from Brazil to attend the forum. He told the roundtable about his new book - a “heroic trilogy” about the colonization of Brazil. The book is a complex “synthesis” of several genres and media, featuring paintings, photographs and orchestral pieces, as well as text as such.
“In a sense, the Carnival of Brazil is also a multi-genre phenomenon”, said the author in his closing remarks. “There are 94 samba schools in Rio, and not a single carnival theme has been repeated in the past hundred years. The participants seek inspiration in poetry, prose and music, they rediscover folk crafts and historic events of the past”.