A letter to Dmitry Medvedev concerning Naum Kleiman

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To Prime-Minister of Russian Government,
Dmitry Medvedev

Russian and Soviet films have been amongst the greatest artworks of the last century. We filmmakers and movie lovers around the world – in Europe, America, Asia and elsewhere – have been enriched by them. We watch the films by Sergei Eisenstein and many others and, in doing so, discover particular and unique ways in which this art form can be.

We, of course, cannot be custodians of this heritage, these treasures. We rely on the great Russian film historians to be keepers of the flame of these films, to help us understand why they are priceless.

Those of us who have met Naum Kleiman know that he is the first amongst these scholars. For decades now, he has protected and, brilliantly, presented, the achievements of Eisenstein, Boris Barnet and many other filmmakers. Kleiman and his team at the Moscow Cinema Museum have shown, for a generation now, judgement, generosity and scholarship which is world class, and from which every archive and cinematheque can learn.

We are, therefore, deeply concerned to hear that Kleiman and his staff have been dismissed from the role of keepers of the flame. We do not know all the political complexities of what has happened, but we would like to protest, in the strongest possible terms, against the ill-advised changes in the leadership of film policy in Russia.

Just like in 1968, when filmmakers as diverse as Orson Welles and Carl Theodor Dreyer, wrote to the French government, decrying the dismissal of Henri Langlois, we want to say: this Cinema Museum isn’t only yours, it’s ours too. And we trust Kleiman and his team. They have proved themselves and we can learn from them. Respect their knowledge and integrity, realise how wise you will be to cherish and rely upon it for the sake of the humane business of founding the culture of the future on the profound and incalculably precious roots of the past – and please reverse your decisions.

We call on other filmmakers around the world to endorse or sign this statement, in solidarity and cinephile friendship.

Mark Cousins
Tilda Swinton
Thierry Fremaux

 

Further signatories

Tom Luddy, Telluride Film Festival
David Robinson, Giornate del cinema muto
Jaime Pena, film critic and programmer
Wanda Bershen, founder NY Jewish Film Festval
Ramiro Ledo Cordeiro, filmmaker, Spain
Marina Vinyes Albes, independent film curator
Antti Alanen, Film programmer, National Audiovisual Institute (Finland)
Milena Gregor, Arsenal — Institut für Film und Videokunst e.V. Berlin
Ana Pfaff, Editor
Javier Rebollo, Filmmaker, Spain
Catherine Gautier, Deputy director and Head of Programming, Filmoteca Española
Annamaria Scaramella, Director of Production, Márgenes
James Mackay, producer and curator
Jesse Richards, Remodernist Film Manifesto
Ashtar Al Khirsan
Manuel Asín, Intermedio DVD
Nicola Falcinella, critic, programmer for International Critics’ Week Venice and filmmaker
Chiara Marañón, content and acquisitions manager, Mubi
Adriana Delgado, film blogger and reviewer
Alejandro Díaz, Head of Programming, Seville International Film Festival and film critic
Gerwin Tamsma, programmer, International Film Festival Rotterdam
Álvaro Arroba, critic and programmer, Spain
Arun Khopkar
Vladimir Léon, filmmaker, producer, Paris
Gonzalo de Pedro Amatria, critic and programmer, Festival del Film Locarno
Francisco Algarín, editor, and all the editorial board members of Lumière magazine
Oona Mosna, Program Director, Media City Film Festival
Elena Hazanov, film director
Carlos Muguiro, Independent curator and researcher (Spain)
Amir Labaki, founder and director, It’s All True International Documentary Film Festival, Brazil
Pierre Léon, filmmaker, critic, Paris
Eva Truffaut (François Truffaut’s estate)
Javier Bassas Vila, teacher, University of Barcelona, and subtitle translator
Jonathan Rosenbaum, critic
Iris Elezi, Albanian filmmaker
Luis Felipe Labaki, filmmaker, Brazil
Maryna Ajaja, Programmer selector Seattle International Film Festival
Richard Millen
João Pedro Rodrigues, Filmmaker, Portugal
Marco Müller, director, Rome Film Festival
Anne Benhaïem, cinéaste filmmaker
Serge Bozon, film director
Tatiana (Tania) Detkina, Hruška a Krys s.r.o
Richard Rousseau
Patricia Mazuy, director
Andrea Inzerillo, Artistic Director, Sicilia Queer filmfest
Sébastien Buchmann, cinematographer, Paris, France
Pierre-Marie Goulet, filmmaker, France/Portugal
Frédéric Pieretti, actor and director, France
Hervé Joubert-Laurencin, Professeur de cinéma, traducteur, cinéphile, Paris, Université de Nanterre
Cyrille Janisset
Mikael Buch
Lionel Baier, filmmaker, Head of the film department ECAL, vice president of the Swiss Film Archives, Switzerland
Vladimir Perisic, filmmaker, Belgrade, Serbia
José Manuel Sande, critic and programmer
Christiane Aprile
Michel Mella
Thomas Pfanne
Eugène Green, director and writer
Nicolas Saada, screenwriter/director
Premendra Mazumder, film critic and curator; Vice President, Federation of Film Societies of India
Sashi Kumar, filmmaker and film critic, India
Ranjit Hoskote, poet, cultural theorist and curator
Sam Di Iorio, Associate Professor of French, Hunter College, NYC
Misha Boris Anissimov,  Cinema Faculty, University of San Carlos, Cebu, Philippines
Maria Bedos
Aline Nicolas, designer, France
Marc Leonard, editor, Paris
Judith Abitol, filmmaker, Paris, France
Jean-Michel Frodon, Film critic, professor, writer
Amos Gitai
Carole Lauree
Pedro Costa, filmmaker, Portugal
Richard Rousseau, casting director
Laurence Guez-Zoberman
Isaac Julien and Mark Nash
Ariel Schweitzer, Les cahiers du cinéma, France
Jean-Marie Straub, filmmaker, France
Marie Vermillard, filmmaker
Patric Chiha, filmmaker
Mark Cosgrove, Cinema Curator, Watershed, Bristol, UK
Marie Anne Guerin, film critic at Trafic, Paris
Dominique Auvray, editor, director, France
Manuela Morgaine, filmmaker, France
Jukka Sammalisto, film critic & blogger, Helsinki
Shelly Silver, artist and filmmaker; Chair, Visual Arts Program, Columbia University, NYC, USA
Jacky Goldberg critic, filmmaker, France
Christoph Terhechte, curator, Head of the Berlinale Forum
Noël Herpe
Pascal Cervo
Yolande Zauberman, Golden Fish Moscow Festival for Ivan and Abraham
Anne Scherrer, teacher, Paris, France
Joaquim Pinto, Nuno Leonel, filmmakers, Portugal
Professor Helen Grace, independent filmmaker; Associate, Department of Gender & Cultural Studies, Sydney College of the Arts; Founding Director, MA Programme in Visual Culture Studies, Chinese University of Hong Kong
Carla Diratz
Sylvie Pras, Responsable des Cinémas, Centre Pompidou
Anjali Monteiro and K.P. Jayasankar, filmmakers and academics
Hélène Strummer
Gloria Vilches, coordinator of Xcèntric, Center of Contemporary Culture, Barcelona, Spain
Nicolas Villodre, cinémathécaire et critique
Nicolas Wackerbarth, filmmaker; o-editor of Revolver-filmmagazine, Germany
Edgardo Cozarinsky
Joana Gusmão and Pedro Fernandes Duarte, Portuguese independent film producers
Benjamin Heisenberg, director
Manuela Morgaine, filmmaker, Paris
Velipekka Makkonen, film critic, member of the Filmihullu film magazine collective
Païni Dominique
Fernanda Coelho, audiovisual conservative, Cinemateca Brasileira, Brazil
Luís Urbano, producer, Portugal
Keith Sanborn, filmmaker, translator, film scholar
Irène Tenèze
Anil Zankar, India
Perry Bard, media artist, New York
Chandita Mukherjee, filmmaker and teacher, Mumbai, India
Michelle Handelman, filmmaker​, professor, New York
Natalie Gravenor, realeyz.tv VOD platform, One World Berlin Human Rights Film Festival
Ross Lipman, filmmaker and archivist
Yann Beauvais, filmmaker
Dick Jewell, artist/filmmaker/tutor, Royal College of Art
Brenda Hutchinson, sound artist, USA
Thomas Beard, Light Industry
Bernard Eisenschitz, film historian
Fernando Ganzo
Georg Grotenfelt, filmmaker, Helsinki, Finland
Axelle Ropert, writer and director, France
Masha Godovannaya, visual artist, curator, educator, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, St. Petersburg University, Russia
Aurélia Georges, filmmaker, Paris, France
Patricia Falguières, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris
John Smith, filmmaker, Professor of Fine Art, London
Vadim Sher, film composer, Paris
Damien Odoul, filmmaker, France
Milos Stehlik, Director, Facets Cinematheque, Chicago, Illinois, USA
Su Friedrich, filmmaker, USA
Uma Tanuku, documentary filmmaker, Delhi, India
Cecilia Barrionuevo, Mar del Plata International Film Festival, Argentina
Kumar Shahani, University of Delhi
Nadia Brisemure
Kira Jääskeläinen, director and curator, Finland
Lauri Kärk, film historian, University of Tartu
Pierre Gras, Université Paris 7, France
Lauri Kärk, Film historian University of Tartu
Tatiana Chistova, filmmaker / director
Birgit Kohler, Co-director of Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, Berlin
Peggy Ahwesh, filmmaker, Professor of Film, Bard College
Ekaterina Sidorkina, story editor, St Petersburg, Russia
Joel Neville Anderson, programmer, Japan Cuts: The New York Festival of Contemporary Japanese Cinema
Anil Sadarangani
Dr. Hans-Joachim Schlegel, film historian, Germany
Professor Birgit Beumers, film scholar, UK
Denis Viren, film historian, film expert of Polish Institute in Moscow
Pascal Privet, programmer and filmmaker, France
Aradhana Seth, filmmaker, production designer
Pablo García, El diablo quizás, Spain
Colette Saint Yves, artist, France
Jacques Bontemps, France
Ko Siu Lan, artist
Vincent Poli, film critic, Cahiers du Cinema
Tony Pipolo, professor emeritus, the Graduate School of the City University of New York
Massadian Valerie, filmmaker
Pascale Bodet, filmmaker, France
Gilles Jacob, president, Cannes Film Festival, France
Leïla Gharbi
Beatrice Albertazzi, professor, Unversidad Columbia, Paraguay
Clemence Lhomme, Paris, France
Jonathan Caouette, film director/actor/film curator, USA
Keith Jones, documentary filmmaker, former programmer, Czech Republic / South Africa
Eva Binder, Department of Slavonic studies, University of Innsbruck, Austria
Gisèle Gordon, filmmaker and programmer, Toronto, Canada
Andrew Horn, director/producer, Berlin
Maxim Kazuchitz, PhD, cinema studies
Rita Azevedo Gomes, film director and programmer, Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinema, Lisbon, Portugal
Julia Ivanova, documentary filmmaker, Vancouver, Canada; board member of HotDocs Film Festival, co-chair of DocBC
Giuliano Vivaldi, film writer
Daniel Bird, critic, UK
Pablo Mazzolo, filmmaker; professor, National University of Quilmes, Argentina
Augusto M. Seabra, critic, programmer Doclisboa Film Festival
Yuri Tsivian, William Colvin professor, University of Chicago
Carlos Conceição, writer/director, Portugal
Matías Piñeiro, filmmaker, Argentina
Emilie Pasternak, Paris, France
John Archer, producer, Glasgow, UK
Anne Laurent, international relations, Austrian Film Commission
Chakrapani Ananda, filmmaker, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
David Jancso, film editor, Hungary
Alexander Chusov, filmmaker, Moscow, Russia
Bidhan Jacobs, Doctor in Film Studies, Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris; independent curator
Frédéric Papon, Head of studies, La fémis — Ecole nationale supérieure des métiers de l’image et du son, Paris
Alberto Barbera, Director, Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Torino; Director, Venice Film Festival, Italy
Rafi Pitts, filmmaker, Iran
Jacopo Chessa, Managing Director, Italian Short Film Centre
Fran Gayo, programmer, Xixón / Buenos Aires
Alberto Lechuga, critic and film journalist, Sofilm España
Rinaldo Censi, writer, programmer
Béla Tarr, filmmaker, Hungary
Paula Arantzazu Ruiz, journalist and film critic, Madrid, Spain
Karina Karaeva, art critic, curator
Elena Oroz, teacher and film critic
Giusy Pisano, ENS Louis-Lumière
Jorge Mourinha, film critic and journalist, Portugal
Bernard Benoliel, Head of Cultural Development, Cinematheque Française
Antonio Somaini, Professor in Film, Media, and Visual Culture Studies, Université Sorbonne Nouvelle, Paris
José Ramón Otero Roko, film critic, Spain
Cristina Cámara, film and video curator, Museo Reina Sofía, Madrid, Spain
Bruno Fornara, critico cinematografico, Italia
Eugenia Gaglianone, researcher of Russian and Soviet cinema, Italy
Gawan Fagard, film historian, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München
Pirjo Mikkonen-Joublanc, writer, editor, Finland
Luciano Joublanc, former ambassador, Mexico
Agnès Wildenstein, film curator, France, Portugal
Nick James, Kieron Corless, James Bell, Isabel Stevens and Nick Bradshaw, Sight & Sound, UK
Geoff Andrew, Senior Film Programmer, BFI, UK
Jean Narboni, essayiste, enseignant de cinéma
Katja Gauriloff, filmmaker, Finland
Emile Hertling Péronard, creative producer, Copenhagen, Denmark
Ansgar Vogt, programmer, Berlinale Forum, Berlin
Lea Morin, independent curator and researcher, Morocco
Igor Khadikov, screenwriter and critic
Katharina Fiedler, editor, Germany
Otto Kylmälä, Artistic Director of Loud Silents Festival, Finland
Leandro Listorti, filmmaker, archivist and programmer, Buenos Aires, Argentina
Dr Richard Armstrong, University of Cambridge
Inese Strupule, University College London
Stephen Ujlaki, filmmaker, Dean of the Loyola Marymount Film School
Zoe Beloff, filmmaker and professor, Queens College CUNY, New York USA
Jeanne Liotta, artist/filmmaker, New York City
Toshi Fujiwara, Tokyo
Richard Maxwell, Professor and Chair, Department of Media Studies, Queens College, City University of New York
Jonas Mekas, filmmaker and director of Anthology Film Archives, New York City
Douglas Rushkoff, author, documentarian
Artemis Willis, Ph.D. Candidate, Cinema and Media Studies, University of Chicago
Paolo Cherchi Usai, Senior Curator, Moving Image Department, George Eastman House, Rochester, New York
Marc Siegel, Film scholar/Curator, Asst. Professor of Film Studies at the Goethe University, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Juliet Koss, Director, Humanities Institute, Scripps College, 1030 Columbia Avenue, Claremont California
Rossella Catanese PhD, Tutor of academic Master in Digital Audiovisual Restoration, Sapienza, University of Rome
Galina Aksenova, Associate professor Moscow Art Theater School, Moscow, Russia
Elena Kostioukovitch, author and translator, Italy
Noah Tsika, film professor, New York
Paulino Viota, critic, filmmaker, Spain
Russell Sheaffer, filmmaker
Prune Engler and the team at Le Festival International du Film de La Rochelle, France
Mara Einstein, professor, Media Studies, Queens College, City University of New York
Emanuela Martini, film critic; Artistic Director, Torino Film Festival, Italy
Minna Långström, artist and filmmaker, Finland
Toni D’Angelo, director, Italy
Antonio Morabito, director, Italy
Vassilis Economou, film critic, 24fpsverite.com
Leslie McCleave, filmmaker; Assistant Professor of Media Studies, Queens College – CUNY
James M. Steffen, PhD; Film and Media Studies Librarian; author of The Cinema of Sergei Parajanov, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia
Vance Kepley, Jr., director, Wisonsin Center for Film and Theater Research, USA
Amy Herzog, Coordinator of the Film Studies Program; Associate Professor of Media Studies, Queens College, CUNY, USA
Ana Fernandes Rodrigues, film student, Portugal
Silvia Kolbowski, artist, New York
Mariagrazia Morrone, editor
Allyn Hardyck, translator, Paris
Martiros Vartanov, Parajanov-Vartanov Institute
Stefan Ivančić, filmmaker, Belgrade, Serbia
Andrei Ujica, filmmaker, director of the HfG|ZKM Film Institute, Karlsruhe
Katya Mtsitouridze, Head of Roskino; Editor-in-chief, Variety Russia; General producer of St. Petersburg International Media Forum
Eric Muzzy, cinematographer
Angela Haardt, curator, Berlin
Julia Gibbs, Film Studies Center, University of Chicago
Marian Masone, Senior Programming Advisor, Film Society of Lincoln Center; Selection Committee, New York Film Festival, New Directors/New Films, USA
Mona Nicoara, documentary filmmaker
Serra Yilmaz, actress, Turkey
Chema González, Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, Spain
Carolina Mancini, film journalist, Italy
Daniele Gaglianone, filmmaker
Gian Luca Farinelli, Director Cineteca di Bologna
Guillaume Poulet, Director of the Film Archives of Grenoble and the Short Film Festival of Grenoble, France
Frédéric Maire, Director of Cinémathèque suisse — National Film Archive
Prof. em. Dr. Christine N. Brinckmann, Berlin, Germany
Anup Singh, writer, filmmaker, India
Paula Vaccaro, producer, Pinball London Films
François Laffort, Service du Traitement des Films, Cinemathèque française
Eva Markovits, Festival International du Film d’Amiens
Dieter Kosslick, Festival Director of the International Filmfestival Berlin
Nelly Kaplan, France
Sabine Lenk, media archivist
Prof. Dr. Eva Warth, Institut für Medienwissenschaft, Ruhr Universität Bochum, Germany
Geoffrey Nowell-Smith, UK
Alexander Horwath, Director, Austrian Film Museum, Vienna
Gaby Babic, Director, GoEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, Wiesbaden, Germany
C. Cay Wesnigk, director, producer and distribution application service provider
Tomás Baltazar, editor, filmmaker, programmer
Juan Ignacio Lahoz Rodrigo, CulturArts-IVAC, Arxiu Fílmic-Cap de conservació, Spain
Michael Eaton, dramatist, UK
Prof.dr. Daniel Biltereyst, Centre for Cinema and Media Studies, Ghent University, Belgium
Timo Malmi, artistic director of Midnight Sun Film Festival, Finland
Eirik Frisvold Hanssen, National Library of Norway
Giogiò Franchini, film editor
Martin Girod, former co-director Filmpodium der Stadt Zürich
Dr. Christine Engel, Institut für Slawistik, Universität Innsbruck, Austria
Koen Van Daele, Assistant Director, programming, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Robert Hensley-King, PhD Candidate, Ghent University, Belgium
Áurea Ortiz Villeta, Valencian Film Archive; professor of the University of Valencia, Spain
Tom Vick, Curator of Film, Freer and Sackler Galleries, Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC
Bruno Malveira,  Press Coordinator at Doclisboa — International Film Festival
Anna Lawton, Georgetown University
Eric de Kuyper, writer, filmmaker, ex deputy director of the Nederlands Filmmuseum, member of the board of the Cinematek Brussels
Regina Schlagnitweit, Austrian Film Museum
Maria João Madeira, programmer, Cinemateca Portuguesa, Portugal
Rashmi Doraiswamy
Hal Foster, professor and critic
Dina Iordanova FRSA, Professor of Global Cinema and Creative Cultures; Director, IGCCC; Publisher, St. Andrews Film Studies, University of St. Andrews, Scotland
Alessandro Lunardelli, director, Italy
Josep M. Català, Dean of the UAB Communication Science Faculty, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona
Joel Daire, Acting Director of Collections, La Cinémathèque française
Ulrich and Erika Gregor, co-founders of the Arsenal Cinema and of the International Forum of the Berlinale
Eva Jørholt, film historian, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Lauri Timonen, critic, writer, filmmaker, Finland
Lalitha Gopalan, Associate Professor, Department of Radio-Television-Film, The University of Texas at Austin
Daniel Hui, filmmaker
Kevin Brownlow, filmmaker and historian, London
David Archibald, Lecturer in Film and Television Studies, University of Glasgow
Karl Sierek, film theorist, Germany
Professor Chris Berry, Film Studies, King’s College London
Adriano Smaldone, programmer, Doclisboa Film Festival, Portugal
Ravi S Vasudevan, Professor, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, India
Franco Calandrini, Ravenna Nightmare Film Fest, Corto Imola Festival
Virginia Wright Wexman, Professor Emerita of English and Art History, University of Illinois at Chicago
Jeffrey Ruoff, film historian and documentary filmmaker, Dartmouth University, USA
Richard Herskowitz, Artistic Director, Houston Cinema Arts Festival
Elisa Mutsaers, independent film historian and preservationist, Filmatelir den Haag, Netherlands
Dagmar Jacobsen, alias film und sprachtransfer GmbH, Berlin
Jean-Claude Fischer, movie data bank
Chris Fujiwara, film critic
Simon Relph, filmmaker, producer UK
Alejandra Espasande, filmmaker and film archivist
Olivier Père, Directeur de l’Unité Cinéma / ARTE France
Dr Andrew Moor, Reader in Cinema History; Coordinator of Manchester Metropolitan University Film Network; Vice Chair, British Association of Film, Television and Screen Studies, UK
Hannes Stoehr, writer/director, Berlin
Giaime Alonge, film historian, University of Turin, Italy; screenwriter
Edith Kramer, Senior Film Curator and Director Emeritus, Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, USA
Nicola Mazzanti, Director, Royal Film Archive of Belgium; President, Association des Cinémathèques Européennes
Miguel Ribeiro, Programme Coordinator, DocLisboa, Portugal
Marco Puccioni, director; European Film Academy member
Martin Koerber, Archiv und Recherche — Leiter Filmarchiv Deutsche Kinemathek — Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin
Dr. Peter Bach, Coproducer and Head of filmsociety Cologne
Lynda Myles, producer, UK
Cristina Bragaglia, professor, Alma Mater University of Bologna
Marco Puccioni, European Film Academy
Sean Cubitt, Professor of Film and Television, Goldsmiths, University of London
Viviana del Bianco, Direttore; Grazia Santini, Direttore esecutivo; Sabina Viti, segreteria; Cristina Pucci, ufficio Stampa; Eugenia Gaglianone, Specialista cinema russo e sovietico; Olga Strada, corrispondente, N.I.C.E. New Italian Cinena Event, Firenze, Italy
Donald Sosin & Joanna Seaton, film composers/musicians, New York
Mika Kaurismäki, filmmaker, Finland
Kirill Shuvalov
Adelheid Heftberger, Curator at the Austrian Film Museum, Vienna
Leena Lepistö, cultural manager, Finland
Elena Dagrada, Università degli Studi di Milano, Italy
Jennifer Ahn, Managing Director, The Film Foundation, Los Angeles, USA
Els Vandevorst
Pnina Blayer, Artistic Director, Haifa International Film Festival
Leena Kilpeläinen, filmmaker, Finland
Ana Grgic, researcher and cinephile, St Andrews, Scotland
Bob Geoghegan, archivist and filmmaker, London, UK
Urszula Antoniak
Glenda Balucani, producer at Doclisboa International Film Festival
Moritz de Hadeln, former hear of the Berlin & Venice Film Festivals
Casper Tybjerg, film historian, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Maria Ruotsala, filmmaker, Finland
Lina Nordqvist, Sweden
Wendy Russell, Curator – Scripts, Documents & Ephemera, BFI National Archive, British Film Institute
Kujtim Cushku
Philippe Moins, Former Director of Anima, the Brussels Animation Film Festival; teacher
B Ruby Rich, Editor, Film Quarterly & Professor, UC Santa Cruz
Peter Bagrov, senior curator, Gosfilmofond of Russia
Stacey Wisnia, Executive Director, San Francisco Silent Film Festival
Mark Betz, Reader in Film Studies, King’s College London
Angelo Signorelli, director of Bergamo Film Meeting
Bert Beyens, filmmaker-teacher-researcher, RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels Belgium
Veton Nurkollari, Artistic Director, DokuFest Prizren
Margarethe von Trotta, filmmaker, Germany
Michelle Carey, Artistic Director, Melbourne International Film Festival
Prof. Jeanine Meerapfel, Filmmaker; Vicedirector of the Film Section in the Academy of the Arts, Berlin
Geoff Gardner, critic and publisher, Film Alert, Australia
Ramon Font, former Programming Head of the Filmoteca de Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain
Yevgeny Gindilis, producer, Moscow, Russia
Fernando Galrito, Artistic Director; Inês Freire, Print Traffic and Programme, MONSTRA Lisbon Animated Film Festival
Antonia Lant, Chair, Professor of Cinema Studies, New York University
Francesco Pitassio, film scholar, Italy
Vinzenz Hediger, professor of cinema studies, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt; film critic and curator
Daniel Landin BSC
Ray Edmondson OAM, Former Deputy Director, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
Dr Wendy Haslem, Lecturer in Screen Studies, University of Melbourne, Australia
Peter B. Kaufman, President and Executive Producer, Intelligent Television & the Intelligent Channel; Columbia University Center for New Media Teaching & Learning, USA
Ira Kormannshaus, Russia
Wim Wenders, filmmaker, Germany
Dr. Laura U. Marks, Dena Wosk University Professor, School for the Contemporary Arts, Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada
Manuela Lazic, film student, King’s College London
Stefan Ramstedt, critic and programmer, Stockholm
Shweta Kishore, filmmaker and film researcher, Monash university, Australia
Bede Cheng, former Programme Manager, Hong Kong International Film Festival; Senior Programme Manager, The Metroplex, Hong Kong
Dan Streible, director, Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program, Dept of Cinema Studies, Tisch School of the Arts New York University
Jay Jeon, Deputy Festival Director, Busan Int’l Film Festival & Director of Asian Film Market, Seoul, South Korea
Nemo Kim, film critic and journalist at Variety, Seoul, South Korea
Pia Tikka, Dr. researcher, filmmaker, Aalto University, Helsinki, Finland
Mario Sesti, Rome Film Festival
David Streiff, former director, Locarno Film Festival/ Federal Office of Culture of Switzerland
Micha Schiwow, responsible Prochaine film promotion agency
Alessia Navantieri, account manager, L’Immagine Ritrovata – Film Restoration and Conservation, Bologna, Italy
Richard I. Suchenski, Director, Center for Moving Image Arts; Assistant Professor, Film and Electronic Arts, Bard College, USA
Nicoletta Romeo, Trieste Film Festival, Italy
Fernando Cortizo, director, Spain
Isabel Rey Sastre, producer, Spain
Yuri Litovchin, rector, Humanities Institute of Television & Radio Broadcasting, Moscow, Russia
Agnès Torrens, Cinémathèque de Tours Henri Langlois, Tours France
Natalija Arlauskaite, film scholar, Lithuania
Ivan Nedoh, museum counselor, General Manager of Slovenian Cinematheque
André Rigaut, sound engineer
Mariia Ponomarova, Ukrainian film director
Marek Rozenbaum, producer, Israel
Karla Oeler, Associate Professor, Film and Media Studies, Emory University
Murat Akser, Lecturer in Cinematic Arts, University of Ulster, Londonderry, Northern Ireland
Anita Kravos, N.I.C.E. New Italian Cinena Event, Firenze, Italy
Elaine Burrows, former archivist at BFI/NFTVA
Guy Borlée, Coordinatore, Il Cinema Ritrovato, Bologna, Italia
Antonia Kovacheva, Director of Bulgarska Nacionalna Filmoteka, Bulgaria
Anke Wilkening, Restorer, Friedrich-Wilhelm-Murnau-Stiftung, Wiesbaden, Germany
Diego Mas Trelles, director, programmer, Spain
Karsten Stöter, producer, EFA member, Germany
Rosalind Galt, film scholar, King’s College, UK
Ginette Vincendeau, film professor and critic, London
Luc Dardenne, filmmaker, Belgium
Matthias Knop, curator and deputy director of Filmmuseum Duesseldorf, Germany
Richard Peña, Director Emeritus, New York Film Festival; Professor of Film Studies, Columbia University
Alison More, Ph.D., Visiting Assistant Professor, Harvard Divinity School, Cambridge, MA
Xiongzaixia, editor, writer
Alik Shpilyuk, Russia
Vibeke Windeløv, Executive producer, Good Company Films, Copenhagen, Denmark
Fred Eschamps
Prof. Robin MacPherson filmmaker; Director, Institute for Creative Industries and Screen Academy Scotland
Simone Starace, Italy
Peter Ellenbruch, film scholar, Germany
Catherine Cormon, Head of Collection Management, EYE Filmmuseum Amsterdam
Jean-Pierre Berthomé, Film historian and critic, France
Shakila Taranum Maan
Stephanie Wuertz, filmmaker and programmer, NYC
Bertrand Bonello, filmmaker, France
Dr Scott MacKenzie, Dept of Film & Media, Queen’s University, Canada
Saverio Di Biagio 
Sabina Aristarco 
Sanja Obradovic, York and Ryerson Universities, Canada
Roti Torres, Colombia National Film Heritage Foundation
Neide Jallageas, Film Russian Expert and Publisher of Kinoruss Journal, São Paulo, Brazil
Roger Odin, Professeur de Cinéma et Audiovisuel, Université de Paris III-Sorbonne Nouvelle
Angeliki Antoniou, director, Greece
Axel Arft, technician, Germany
Emilio Ruiz Barrachina, director, Spain
Renny Bartlett, director, UK
Bert Beyens, RITS School of Arts, Erasmus University College Brussels, Belgium
Irena Bilic, film and festival director, France
Pnina Blayer, artistic director, Haifa International Film Festival, Israel
Georg Brintrup, director, Germany
Javier Cámara, actor, Spain
Amira Casar, actress, France
Kujtim Cashku, director, Albania
Uldis Cekulis, producer, VFS FILMS, Latvia
Fernando Cortizo, director, Spain
Mijke de Jong, director, The Netherlands
Maria Dinulescu, actress, Romania
Alexander Donev, producer, Bulgaria
Juliette Duret, Head of cinema, Centre for Fine Arts — BOZAR, Belgium
Giovanni Galavotti, screenwriter, Italy
Alon Garbuz, director Tel-Aviv Cinematheque, Israel
Esther Gronenborn, director, Germany
Elda Guidinetti, producer, Switzerland
Agnieszka Holland, director, Poland
Dennis Ivanov, producer and distributor at Arthouse Traffic, Ukraine
László Kántor, producer, Hungary
Mika Kaurismäki, director, Finland
Nina Kellgren, BSC, cinematographer, UK
Rainer Klausmann, DOP, Switzerland
Ágnes Kocsis, director, Hungary
Victor Kossakovsky, director, Russia
Anita Kravos, actress/honorary president N.I.C.E. New Italian Cinema Events, Italy
Vigdis Lian, film advisor/former CEO Norwegian Film Institute
Sanford Lieberson, Founding Chairman Film London, UK
Enrique Gabriel Lipschutz, director, Spain/Argentina
Ken Loach, director, UK
Barbara Lorey de Lacharrière, critic / journalist, France
José Luis Lozano, director, Spain
Tadeusz Lubelski, institutional, Poland
Christa Maerker, director, Germany
Montse Majench, director, Acadèmia del Cinema Català, Spain
Kanan Mammadov, cinematographer, Azerbaijan
Gary Marlowe, composer, Germany
Diego Mas Trelles, director/programmer, Spain
Manolis Mavromatakis, actor, Greece
Prof. Jeanine Meerapfel, director, Germany
Stephen Melchiori, artistic director and executive producer of the Henri Langlois awards Pierre Milon, DOP, France
Nikki Moss, technician, Ireland
Rebecca O’Brien, producer, UK
Christina Olofson, director/producer, Sweden
Marco Puccioni, director, Italy
María Luisa Pujol, director, Film Classroom Foundation -Josep M. Queraltó Collection, Catalonia, Spain
Isabel Rey Sastre, producer, Spain
Dita Rietuma, film critic and film historian, Latvia
Christian Rouaud, director, France
Jean Roy, journalist & honorary president of FIPRESCI (Fédération internationale de la presse cinématographique)
Dr. Hans-Joachim Schlegel, film historian, Germany
Guido Schwab, producer, Germany
Ingvar E. Sigurdsson, actor, Iceland
Hannes Stoehr, writer/director, Germany
Karsten Stöter, producer, Germany
János Szász, director, Hungary
Job ter Burg, editor, the Netherlands
André Wilms, actor, France
Prof. Alexander Yanakiev, head of the National Research Centre for Preserving of Cultural Heritage, Institute of Art Studies, Bulgaria
Eva Zaoralová, filmcritic and former artistic director Karlovy Vary IFF
The Cinema Department, University Paris
Joël Augros, University Paris
Marco Bonfanti, director
Gioia Costa, presidente della Associazione Culturale esplor/azioni
Rhidian Davis, Cultural Programme Manager, BFI Programme Dept., British Film Institute
Valerio Greco, independent filmmaker, historian and student at the Università di Bologna
Rimvydas Leipus, cinematographer
Ilkka Levä, independent film director & screenwriter PhD, Adjunct Professor, University of Helsinki
Bettina Schulte Strathaus, Institut für Theater-, Film und Medienwissenschaft, Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Dmitry Martov, critic
Marcelo Felix, filmmaker, Portugal
Giulia Fanara, professor in Film History, University di Roma La Sapienza
Cíntia Gil, Co-director of Doclisboa — International Film Festival
Clarence Tsui, film critic and lecturer, Hong Kong
Dr. Nikolaus Wostry, curator, Filmarchiv Austria, Vienna
Pasquale Catalano, composer, Italy
Sara Iommi, Ph.D student, University of Bologna
Barbara Corsi, scholar, University of Padua, Italy
Ada Ackerman, CNRS, Paris
Simona Bondavalli, Associate Professor, Vassar College, NY
Claudia Dillmann, Director Deutsches Filminstitut/Deutsches Filmmuseum, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
Carlo Chatrian, Artistic Director of the Festival del film Locarno
Daniele Canedo, research and professor in film policies, Universidade Federal do Recôncavo da Bahia
Alessandro Aronadio, film director, Italy
Pata David
Paolo Mereghetti, critic, Italy
Jeton Budima, director/critic, Kosovo
Marion Döring, director European Film Academy, Germany
George Dulgerov, director, Bulgaria
Jochen Kuhn, director, Germany
Lucy Russell, actress, UK
Kenneth Scicluna, director, Malta
Kati Sinisalo, producer/programmer, Yle Teema, Finland
Jos Stelling, director, The Netherlands
film.factory, Sarajevo
Deborah Belford de Furia, screenwriter
Joseph Halachmi, film director and historian, Israel
Benjamin Esdraffo, composer
Constanze Ruhm, Institut für Bildende Kunst, Ordinariat für Kunst und Medien, Wien
Dr. Rainer Rother, Deutsche Kinemathek — Museum für Film und Fernsehen, Berlin
Esteve Riambau, Director, Filmoteca de Catalunya
Luca Antoniazzi, Phd Candidate and Teaching Assistant, School of Media and Communication, University of Leeds, UK
Tadeusz Kowalski, Director of The National Film Archive, Warsaw, Poland
Niamh O’Mahony, Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge
Massimo Benvegnu, film critic & programmer, EYE Filmmuseum, Amsterdam
Rositza Alexandrova, film scholar, UK
Mehelli Modi, Managing Director, Second Run DVD, London, UK
Charles Musser, Professor of Film Studies, Yale University
Geetha J, filmmaker, India/UK
Ingrid Stigsdotter, film critic and Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, Linnaeus University, Växjö, Sweden
Pierre Véronneau, archivist, Montréal, Qc, Canada
Elsa Aleluia
Marleen Labijt, Archival Loans, EYE International, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Massimo De Pascale, screenwriter Rome
Lana Mayer A. Martires, film archivist and filmmaker, Spain/Brazil
Michal Bregant, ​​General directorm, National Film Archive, Prague, Czech Republic
Elena Lazic, film student, King’s College London
Ariella Ben-Dov, curator and producer
Toni D’Angela, Editor in chief LA Furia Umana; President CAMIRA (Cinema and Moving Images Research Assembly)
Ivan Kozlenko, Deputy General Director, Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Centre, Ukraine
Paolo Mereghetti, critic, Italy
Daniela Treveri Gennari, Reader in Film Studies, Oxford Brookes University
Camilo Rodríguez, Chile
Laurence Hoffmann, Producer, Wildside Media
François Sculier, editor and director, France
Andrea Lena Corritore, researcher, University of Perugia, Italy
Leonhard H. Gmuer, Production Manager and Editor in chief of kinotv.com, Switzerland
Arianna Lodeserto, photographer, writer, researcher
Ken Jacobs, filmmaker and retired Distinguished Professor of Cinema, State University of New York at Binghamton
Maria Mocali, esperta diritti umani in Italy
Elena Santini, P.R News Italian Cinema Events
Viviana del Bianco, Vogue Italia and N.I.C.E. 
Bertrand Tavernier, President, Lumiere Institute
Maelle Arnaud, chief programs, Lumiere Institute
Costa Gavras, President Cinematheque française
Serge Toubiana, Directeur general Cinematheque française
Eric Le Roy, Archives Françaises du Film et President de la FIAF
Natacha Laurent, Directrice Cinematheque de Toulouse
Serge Bromberg, Lobster Films
Pierre Rissient, historian, producer
Ludovica Fales, filmmaker, Italy/UK
Myriam Tsikounas, professeur d’histoire et audiovisuel, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Mauro Gervasini, Film TV magazine Editor in Chief
Davide Giurlando, PhD, student of Russian cinema
Miguel Marías, film critic, teacher and former director of the Spanish Film Archive
Fabio Guerzoni, silents fan
Mateja Valentincic, film critic and journalist, RTV Slovenia
Alessia Cervini, assistant professor in History of Cinema, University of Messina, Italy
Natalia Aspesi, giornalista italiana
David Francis OBE, former Curator of the National Film Archive and former Chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division at the Library of Congress
Raymond Bellour, France
Mrs. Arja Grandia, former Archival Loans manager for EYE Filmmuseum
Gail Osherenko, Santa Barbara, CA. USA
Dusan Makavejev, film director, Belgrade
Catherine A. Surowiec, film historian and researcher, London
Della Casa, Asian Cinema and Animation Coordinator, Future Film Festival, Bologna, Italy
Gherardo Gossi, cinematographer, EFA member
Antonio Spagnuolo, director of Laceno d’oro Film Festival — Camillo Marino Award
Donata Pesenti Campagnoni, Vice Direttore /Conservatore Capo, Museo Nazionale del Cinema, Torino, Italy
Leo van Hee, programmeur, EYE filmmuseum, Netherlands
Judith Revault d’Allonnes, Film programmer, Centre Pompidou, France
Paul Kempers, editor / copywriter at EYE Film Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
Andrea Pagliardi, Teacher, ASIFA Italia member
Myriam Juan, PhD. student, History, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Mariona Bruzzo, Head of Film Conservation Centre, Filmoteca de Catalunya
Jean-Paul Dorchain, Royal Film Archive, Brussels
Mark-Paul Meyer, senior curator EYE Film Museum, Amsterdam
Laura Argento, CSC-Cineteca Nazionale, Rome, Italy
Annamaria Licciardello, CSC-Cineteca Nazionale
Claude Bertemes, Director of Cinémathèque Luxembourg
Luisa Comencini, Secretary General – External  Relations, Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Milano
Matteo Pavesi, Director and Legal representative, Fondazione Cineteca Italiana, Milano
Nathalie Morris, Senior Curator – Special Collections, BFI National Archive, British Film Institute
Betty Schiel, Head Programmer, Dortmund | Cologne Int. Women’s Film Festival
Federica Dini, Organizing Coordinator, Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, Pordenone Silent Film Festival
Gala Minasova, writer / producer, Los Angeles, USA
Ehsan Khoshbakht, curator, author, film historian from Iran
Silvester Stöger, Wien, Austria
Corinna Reicher, film curator, London
Dennis Vetter, critic, programmer, researcher, Germany
Emiliano Morreale, Head Curator, CSC — Cineteca Nazionale, Rome
Ryszard W. Kluszczynski
Daria Khitrova, Harvard University
Ludmila Melnikova, productrice, distributrice, Paris
Tomasz Klys, author; professor of film studies, University of Lodz, Poland
Martin Baer, Berlin
Teresa Rutkowska, editor-in-chief, Kwartalnik Filmowy
Karolina Kosińska, editor, Kwartalnik Filmowy
Beata Kosińska-Krippner, editor, Kwartalnik Filmowy
Grzegorz Nadgrodkiewicz, editor, Kwartalnik Filmowy
Ryszard Ciarka, editor, Kwartalnik Filmowy
Luc Beraud, réalisateur-scénariste, France
Charlotte Silvera, cinéaste, Paris
Catherine Breillat, filmmaker, France
Willemien Ruys, picture researcher
François Fiegel, librarian, Audiovisual Department of the Bibliothèque nationale de France
Wouter Hessels, lecturer Film & Media Studies, RITS School of Arts, Brussels, Belgium
François Margolin, director and producer, Paris, France
Uliana Shilkina, film director
Jean-Louis Cohen, Sheldon H. Solow Professor in the History of Architecture, Institute of Fine Arts/New York University
Elif Rongen-Kaynakci, Curator of Silent Film, EYE Filmmuseum, Netherlands
Dr. Jan-Christopher Horak, Director, UCLA Film & Television Archive, USA
Clark Middleton, actor, director, writer, teacher  New York City, NY, USA
Roberto Naldi, Italy
Justine Malle, filmmaker
Bert Hogenkamp, film historian
François Raboteau, directeur, ARCHIPOP Entrepôt & Manufacture, Archives audiovisuelles, Beauvais, France
Fiammetta Girola, General Coordinator, Bergamo Film Meeting Int’l Film Festival, Italy
Pascal Vimenet, filmmaker, critic and teacher, France
Rolf Coulanges, cinematographer, Member of the board of the BVK — German Society of Cinematographers, Berlin
Sophie Seydoux, présidente de la Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé
Stéphanie Salmon, directrice des collections de la Fondation Jérôme Seydoux-Pathé
Francesco Amato, filmmaker, Italy
Francesco Calogero, filmmaker, Italy
Mia Arfuso, producer, Italy
Ian McDonald, director
Geetha J., producer
Ramin S. Khanjani, film writer and researcher, Canada
Dominique Nasta, professeure d’études cinématographiques, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Belgium
Tatjana Alexander, actress, Austria
Ryszard Ciarka, editor, Kwartalnik Filmowy, Poland
Hans W. Geißendörfer, producer, Germany
Björn Granath, actor, Sweden
Tomasz Klys, professor of film studies, University of Lodz, Poland
Karolina Kosińska, editor, Kwartalnik Filmowy, Poland
Beata Kosińska-Krippner, editor, Kwartalnik Filmowy, Poland
Stefan Laudyn, director Warsaw Film Foundation / Warsaw Film Festival, Poland
Konstantin Lopushansky, director, Russia
Valerio Mieli, screenwriter/director, Italy
José María Prado, director Spanish Film Archive (Filmoteca Española)
Valeria Richter, producer, Denmark
Cecilia Roth, actress, Spain
Teresa Rutkowska, editor-in-chief, Kwartalnik Filmowy, Poland
Fien Troch, director, Belgium
Giovanna Fossati, chief curator, EYE filmmuseum, Amsterdam
Stefania Casini, actress/director, Italy
Svetlana Kirilova, editor, Bulgaria
Noe Mendelle, Scottish Documentary Institute, UK
Jem Cohen, filmmaker, New York, US
Jérôme Diamant-Berger, producer and director, France
Margaret Parsons, film curator, National Gallery of Art
Emmanuel Plasseraud, Université Bordeaux Montaigne, enseignant et réalisateur
Boris Nelepo, critic and programmer, Russia
Carla Capetta, Edizioni kaplan, Torino
Jim Hickey
Julian Ross, Amsterdam
Harutyun Khachtryan, film director and director, Golden Apricot Yerevan International Film Festival
Jacques Maillot, director, France
Lee Tsiantis, Corporate Legal Manager, Turner Broadcasting System, Inc
Philippe Gigot, Catalogue Jacques Tati
Valérie Minetto, director
Lynne Tillman, New York City
Guillaume Esterlingot

 

Letters received

Cher Naoum Kleiman,

C’est avec stupeur que j’apprends aujourd’hui dans la presse française et américaine que l’administration du Musée du Cinema de Moscou dont vous êtes le fondateur a décidé de se passer de vous, de votre inestimable don d’authentique amoureux du cinema.

Embrassant toute son histoire, dans sa plus grande diversité, sous ses formes les plus artistiques, vous avez , comme nul autre, su établir un dialogue essentiel entre les classiques et les modernes faire découvrir et redécouvrir en Russie des oeuvres aussi originales et majeures que celles d’Eisenstein, de Barnet, d’Ozu, de Rohmer ou de mon père, François Truffaut auquel vous avez consacré à Moscou une importante retrospective, permettant à ses films d’entrer en résonance avec les nouvelles générations. De cela et de tant et plus, je vous suis infiniment reconnaissante

En 1991, La France reconnaissant en vous une figure essentielle de la culture vous faisait Officier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Aujourd’hui, nous, gens de cinéma, des arts, des lettres, de la culture de France et d’ailleurs sommes consternés à l’annonce de votre licenciement quand les cinéastes et le public ont plus que jamais besoin de votre enthousiasme sans pareil, de votre irremplaçable expertise.

Je ne saurais me résoudre a accepter votre licenciement et je tiens à vous assurer ici de mon plus sincère soutien et vous témoigner ma plus entière reconnaissance pour votre dévouement exemplaire.

Ma gratitude comme mon amitié vous sont acquises

Eva Truffaut
Paris le 30 octobre 2014

 

Cher monsieur Kleiman,

J’apprends avec étonnement et indignation que vos fonctions ont été suspendues et je tiens à vous faire part de mon soutien le plus total et de ma solidarité absolue.

On connaît votre travail, votre dévouement, votre talent sans faille au service du cinéma. Il est consternant  et même impensable que, de même que pour Henri Langlois, le fil royal du destin d’une vie soit ainsi coupé net par des envieux ou des incapables. Lève-toi, François Truffaut, qui t’était levé à l’époque pour protester et faire rétablir Langlois avec fougue, levez-vous nombreux tous les petits François Truffaut de la terre et soyez prêts à vous battre pour que le cher Kleiman retrouve sans délai ses fonctions pleines et entières. Ceux qui idiotement et anticinematographiquement veulent le bâillonner ignorent que dans bâillonner il y a  baïonnette: elle est déjà au bout de ma plume en attendant mieux ou pire.

Je vous conjure de tenir bon.

Avec mon admiration fidèle et mon amitié,

Gilles Jacob
President, Cannes Film Festival

 

Dear Naum,

I’ve heard what’s happening in Moscow and I’m simply stunned.

If one was ever to pick an ideal archive director that would be you; if one was ever to chose, in the world, a true place for the soul and for those who love and care about cinema, its past and future, that would be the Film Museum in Moscow.

By its own DNA cinema is an art form that goes beyond the very idea of nationality. What you did for the preservation, the dissemination and research of cinema was extremely important for a whole international community of cinema lovers. What you did was not only crucial for a better and deeper understanding of Russian culture, but also allowed us to have a better grasp of world cinema history, and of the human beings who made it.

The threat of your eviction from the Film Museum is a threat to all institutions working to safeguard the memory of cinema.

This is why we are going to share this e-mail to all the artists, archivists, scholars and followers of Il Cinema Ritrovato, so that each of them can send his/her support to the BFI address and do anything possible so that the experience and activity of the Moscow Film Museum can carry on.

With most grateful regards,

Gian Luca Farinelli
Director Cineteca di Bologna

 

Gentili operatori del cinema e appassionati,

l’Associazione Culturale Tonino Guerra, che è composta anche da due musei dedicati all’opera del Maestro Tonino Guerra, certamente con grande amarezza ha reagito alle notizie arrivate fin qui.

Conosciamo personalmente Naum Klejman, legato da amicizia a Tonino Guerra, è un grande uomo, specialista del cinema in tutto il mondo. Un uomo come lui è riuscito a creare un museo unico al mondo con pochi mezzi a disposizione  dando vita al centro luminoso della memoria per il cinema e anche per il suo futuro.

Nessuno è profeta nella propria patria, però a noi pare che l’unione con il Museo d’arti figurative Pushkin darà nuova forza al Museo che avrà finalmente il suo reparto del cinema come il Louvre e il Musée d’Orsay ecc., anche lo staff con il suo glorioso presidente Naum Klejman finalmente potrà lavorare indisturbato per conservare la storia del cinema perché il nostro Maestro Tonino Guerra diceva: “Senza passato non potrebbe essere il futuro”.

Il Presidente Carlo Sancisi
Il Vicepresidente Eleonora Guerra
Luigi Mattei Gentili
Martina Lorenzi, Maddalena Mattei Gentili, Valentina Galli

 

Dear Naoum Kleiman,

As director of the Cinémathèque suisse – National film archive, I am very sad of the decisions taken by the authority and send you all our support.

Through our former founder and director, Freddy Buache, we know how important is your work for national and international cinema.

We hope that it will be possible for you and all your team to come back and continue your effort to defend independent and free cinema.

Let us know if we can do something to help you.

Best wishes,

Frédéric Maire
Director, Cinémathèque suisse — National Film Archive

 

Le Festival International du Film de La Rochelle soutient Naoum Kleiman et son équipe.

Ils font preuve d’un amour fidèle, désintéressé et généreux pour le cinéma russe et international.
Leur travail est précieux, nécessaire et admirable.

Le musée national du cinéma de Moscou est un exemple pour les cinémathèques du monde entier et pour tous ceux qui oeuvrent, au quotidien, à la conservation des archives du patrimoine cinématographique, à la diffusion obstinée des films, à la circulation de trésors inestimables, afin que ceux-ci soient accessibles au plaisir et à la réflexion de chacun.

Il est indispensable de protéger cet outil merveilleux -qui est une chance inouîe pour le cinéma russe- en lui restituant des conditions de fonctionnement pérennes et bienveillantes.

Merci de prendre en compte les appels venus du monde entier pour que se perpétue, à sa manière à lui car elle a fait ses preuves, l’oeuvre de Naoum Kleiman.
Elle importe à tous ceux, innombrables, pour qui le cinéma est un message vital transmis de générations en générations et ceci depuis plus d’un siècle grâce aux passeurs tels que Naoum Kleiman.

Prune Engler et toute l’équipe du Festival

 

Dear Sirs,

We write you as the board of directors of Apordoc – the Portuguese Documentary Association, with more than 200 members, responsible for events such as DocLisboa film festival, Doc’s Kingdom Seminar, Lisbon Docs pitching forum, among many other things.

We would like Apordoc, as an institution, to feature among the signatories of the letter of support of the Moscow Cinema Museum.

Yours sincerely,
Inês Sapeta Dias, president
Amarante Abramocivi, vice-president
Pedro Fernandes Duarte, treasurer
Miguel Clara Vasconcelos
Margarida Leitão

 

Naum Kleiman and the Moscow Filmmuseum are as important to film history as Russian Cinema is important to the history of cinema.

To endanger the long tradition, the unparalleled competence, the unquenchable passion, the wonderful collections and the endless expertise of the Filmmuseum and of its staff, first of all Naum Kleiman — the first and most important scholar of Russian cinema — is an unjustified insult to all of Russian film history. The Filmmuseum has been, is and must continue being, the reference for the study of Russian cinema.

Naum Kleiman and his staff are invaluable colleagues with whom the whole community of film archives and film archivists across the globe collaborate on a daily basis. They are an example for all of us who had the privilege to come to know them and work with them.

On behalf of the whole community of European Archives as President of their Association, it is with disbelief, despair, deep concern and anger that I hear that this outstanding institution is endangered.

There is no justification, no sense and no meaning in any decision that goes against the Filmmusuem, its staff and Naum Kleimann.

We are all confident that this situation will be rectified immediately, that Naum and the Filmmuseum’s staff reintegrated in their roles, and the Filmmuseum’s future will be secured.

Nicola Mazzanti
Director, Royal Film Archive of Belgium
President, Association des Cinémathèques Européennes

 

To Prime Minister of Russian Government. Dmitry Medvedev,

Let me join the international community of cinema professionals and share my disbelief and indignation at the danger of the eviction of Mr Naum Kleiman from the post of the leader of The Russian Museum of Cinema. I am deeply concemed about this alarming situation that has arisen.

Under the leadership of Mr Kleiman the Museum became a major institution of international recognition. What Naum Kleiman did for the preservation, dissemination and research is extremely important not merely for the Russians but for a whole international community of cinema lovers.

What is more, the conflict in the Russian Museum of Cinema is a threat to all institutions working to saveguard the memory of cinema in Russia.

Therefore, in respect to Mr. Kleiman’s knowledge and expertise, I would like to protest, in the strongest possibile terms, against the ill-adviced changes in the leadership of the film policy in Russia.

Regards,

Tadeusz Kowalski
Director of The National Film Archive
Warsaw, Poland

 

The team of Bulgarska Nacionalna Filmoteka (Bulgarian National Film Archive) joins the international efforts in support of Naum Kleiman and the professional staff of Moscow Cinema Museum. We strongly appeal to the Russian authorities to reconsider their politics towards the Cinema Museum and its director for over 25 years.

Bulgarian National Film Archive supports also the plan of The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts to create a cinema department and to make Cinema Museum part of its structure.

Antonia Kovacheva
Director of Bulgarska Nacionalna Filmoteka

 

​Dear Sir,

We feel ​seriously ​concerned about the future of the Moscow Filmmuseum after Mr Kleiman had been removed from his office. The work of Mr Kleiman and his staff has full support of the academic and archival community around the globe and therefore we ask you to reconsider the situation in the Moscow Filmmuseum and find a reasonable solution which would lead to reintegration of Naum Kleiman and his staff in their roles.

​Respectfully, ​

Michal Bregant
​​General director
National Film Archive
Prague, Czech Republic

 

I would like to add my name to the letter of support for the Museum of Cinema in Moscow and its staff which you have written. I received the Prix Jean Mitry in the same year as Naum and as one of the co-founders of the Museum of the Moving Image on the South Bank have a  heart-felt sympathy for the predicament he and his staff face.

Sincerely

David Francis OBE
Former Curator of the National Film Archive and former Chief of the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and
Recorded Sound Division at the Library of Congress

 

En tant qu’historien et archiviste du cinéma pour près de 40 ans à la Cinémathèque québécoise, je ne peux qu’être inquiet de menaces qui mettent en péril une institution centrale pour la connaissance du cinéma russe et soviétique. Je souscris tout à fait à la démarche de mes collègues.

Pierre Véronneau
Montréal, Qc
Canada

 

Dear colleagues,

the international arts & film festival “I mille occhi” in Trieste (Italy) wants to add his support to Naum Kleiman and his staff.

We know how it is important that one of the greatest  film scholars and passionate professionals in the field of film researches and archives, can continue his work in the interest of all people who admire the history of Russian and Soviet cinema.

Sergio M. Germani
festival director

 

Dear Sirs,

Greetings from India!

I would like add my name to the list of signatories to this open letter to Dmitry Medvedev concerning Naum Kleiman. I would also like to share my views on the importance of Naum Kleiman, with other signatories of this letter.

I learnt Russian in the ‘80s to read the writings of Eisenstein, as most of the contents of the six volumes Russian edition were available only in Russian. Subsequently, during my Homi Bhabha Fellowship, I was fortunate to work with Naum Kleiman, in Pera Atasheva’s apartment, which housed the Eisenstein Archives, for five weeks, which changed my life. I owe the best of my writing and filmmaking to this bond, which continues till today. 

I have also read the new five volumes of Eisenstein’s volumes in Russian published under the guidance of Naum Kleiman. They contain some of the most important writings on not only cinema, but also on aesthetics published, published from any part of the world.  The unflagging spirit of total devotion and impeccable scholarship that Naum Kleiman has shown for over nearly half a century made this monumental task possible  He is a man of immense wealth of knowledge and wisdom and has great tasks ahead of him, as my continued correspondence with him has made me understand. 

To deprive him and his colleagues of this opportunity to serve not only Russia but the whole world is an event of immense magnitude. I am sure that a country and culture that has given the world some of the finest artists and thinkers in the world, cannot do such injustice to a man who is a legend in his lifetime. 

I have interacted with many filmmakers and scholars, from Jay Leyda, Kevin Brownlow, Bernard Eisenschitz, Annette Michelson, Peter Wollen, Laura Mulvey, late Mani Kaul and our colleague Kumar Shahani, to mention only a few. Each of them have only the highest praise for for Naum Kleiman as a great human being and an exceptionally brilliant mind. 

I would request the authorities and the powers be not to do so much harm to a great cause, by preventing Naum Kleiman from continuing his great work. I write this with a heavy heart and give my full support to Naum Kleiman and to my colleagues from the British Film Institute, where I had worked for six months in the late eighties. 

With regards, 

Arun Khopkar
Mumbai, India 400012

 

Dear Friends,

Thank you to Sight and Sound and the BFI to publish this letter.

I would be very eager to add my name to support Naum Kleiman’s remarkable work. His incredible knowledge of world, Soviet and Russian cinema, his generosity in sharing this made me one the numerous lucky spectators who discovered thanks to him and his team some unknown films by Igor Savchenko, Friedrich Ermler, Ivan Pyriev, Yuli Rayzman, Marlen Khutsiev, and many others…

Naum Kleiman’s Museum of Cinema is a place of freedom, invention, intelligence, beauty. This cannot vanish just because of a political decision.

Vladimir Léon
filmmaker, producer, Paris

 

Naum Kleiman, without a doubt, is the most important film preservation specialist and authority on Russian cinema, who has done more to preserve it and make it available to the world than anyone else. No one can replace him.

Jonas Mekas
filmmaker and director of Anthology Film Archives, New York City

 

Greetings from Bombay!

Naum Kleiman’s contribution to the preservation and documentation of Soviet cinema has been invaluable; to dismiss him in this cavalier fashion is to insult and derogate the work of a tireless and selfless custodian of an important part of the world’s cultural heritage.

With very best wishes,

Ranjit Hoskote
poet, cultural theorist and curator

 

I sign this letter! Naum Kleinman is a genius who opened our eyes and our heart to a treasure, Russian humanity and art! For me so important!

Yolande Zauberman
Golden Fish Moscow Festival for Ivan and Abraham

 

Please add my name to the list of signatories to the letter protesting the disastrous dismissal of Naum Kleiman from the Moscow Cinema Museum. Kleiman being at the head of the museum is essential to preserving the heritage of Russian and Soviet Cinema for the world.

Keith Sanborn
Filmmaker, translator, film scholar

 

I am French and went through the Soviet and Russian Academy of VGIK in the 1970 when Naum Kleiman was already for us, students from all the Soviet republics and from so many different foreign countries an “intelligent and generously minded KEY” to the patrimonial Russian and Soviet cinema. He helped me several times personally to develop projects about the History of Russian Cinema and VGIK for French Television. The Museum and the Centre of Cinema in Moscow is a warm so organically linked to the intelligence and artistic eternal Russian understanding of the world that the work of Naum Kleiman, his team and his followers should be encouraged and given good supports as this investments means a lot of different profits back from all the world.

Irène Tenèze

 

To Whom It May Concern

As a film teacher and author, I would like to add my name to the list of signatories appealing to Dmitry Medvedev to not remove Naum Kleiman from his post at the Moscow Film Museum. On two occasions in the 1990s I lectured on film at the Musuem and have first hand knowledge of Mr. Kleiman’s knowledge of and passionate dedication to the art and history of the cinema. Such a man should be celebrated and cherished, not removed.

Yours truly
Tony Pipolo, professor emeritus, the Graduate School of the City University of New York

 

Greetings from Paraguay!

I would like to add my name to the list of signatories to this open letter to Dmitry Medvedev.

Naum Kleiman being at the head of the museum is essential to preserving the heritage of Russian and Soviet Cinema for the world.

I had the unique opportunity to work with Naum Klejman and his staff at the Musej Kino and at Ejzenshtejn’s apartment, which housed the Eisenstein Archives, for some years, and I must recognize that this changed my way of thinking and watching cinema.

Naum Kleiman’s contribution to the preservation and documentation of Soviet and Russian cinema has been invaluable; to dismiss him and his staff would mean to loose an important part of the world’s cultural heritage.

“Musej Kino isn’t only yours, it’s ours too”

Beatrice Albertazzi
Professor of Teory and Analysis of Film
Unversidad Columbia, Paraguay

 

Dear Monsieur Medvedev,

My name is Clemence Lhomme, i am an author-composer, grand daughter of Dmitry Kharitonov (Odessa’s studio 1916) and live in Paris, France. I endorse Naum Kleiman’s fight to save the priceless Cinema Museum in Moscow.

Je vous prie d’agréer, monsieur Medvedev, l’expression de mes respectueuses salutations.

Clemence Lhomme

 

To who it may concern,

Please add my name to the list of signatories in support of Naum Kleiman if possible. I had the pleasure to meet him both at Musei Kino in Moscow and in Karlovy Vary and worked with him in a minor capacity to organise a catalogue and exhibition of Eisenstein drawings in the Czech Republic.

As a filmmaker I was also very impressed by the efforts at preserving and presenting cinema heritage at Musei Kino and visited there several times in the previous decade.

Keith Jones
documentary filmmaker, former program director MOFFOM Festival, Prague
Czech Republic — South Africa

 

Greetings!

I do believe that the world of cinema as we know it today would be unfruitful in possibilities without the impassioned contributions of Naum Kleiman. I appeal to all who have learned to live a little more affirmatively from the sound and images of the cinematic art that we keep this light burning in our conscience and our world.

Please do add my name to the list of signatories to this open letter to Dmitry Medvedev.

Yours truly,

Anup Singh
Writer, Filmmaker

 

I fully endorse the appeal for Naum Kleiman who is one of the greatest human beings on this planet.

Kumar Shahani

 

Thanks to all the dear colleagues from all over the world for being with Naum and his team these hard days. We all hope that the situation can’t getting worse than it is right now. ‎This time it’s point of no return.

It’s hardly possible to imagine anyone in the Russian film industry who deserves more respect than Naum Kleiman for his lifetime of invaluable work and unspotted reputation.

Katya Mtsitouridze
Head of Roskino
Editor-in-chief, Variety Russia
General producer of St. Petersburg International Media Forum

 

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

I had the privilege to meet Mr. Naum Klejman a couple of times during the Berlinale.

Film work has much to do with morals and character. The quality of the work is the better the more humanistic a personality is, which is very true with Mr. Klejman. Knowledge, expertise and the respect for the work of others and finding solutions for the rising problems not looking for private advantages but for the best of the given task is so very necessary for good results, for which the Museum was famous under the guide of Mr. Klejman.

I would be honoured if my name could be set under the letter to Mr. Dmitry Medvedev,
Sincerely,

Angela Haardt
curator, Berlin

 

Please include my support for Naum Kleiman. With my wife, Florence, we met him in 1986 when we went from Berlin (I had a DAAD filmmaker residency) to Moscow. We carried books to him from the Gregors and carried back a letter to them from Naum, pasted in a book so it did not fall out during inspection by a guard on our return. He could not have been more available, more insightful or more feelingful about the Eisenstein apartment he protected.

This is a great and courageous man and should not be foolishly insulted now.

Ken Jacobs
filmmaker and retired Distinguished Professor of Cinema, State University of New York at Binghamton

 

Dear Naum,

I am shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the troubles at the Film Museum in Moscow. It was a privilege and a pleasure to have had your precious assistance in the preparation of the English edition of the writings of Sergei Eisenstein. Your knowledge and enthusiasm have been and remain an inspiration to us all.

In friendship and solidarity,

Geoffrey Nowell-Smith

 

Dear Sir/Madam,

I would like to add my name to the letter to Dmitry Medvedev as signatory asking him to allow Naum Kleiman to continue his great work at the Museum.  Naum has been an inspiration and has opened many gates to the understanding of Eisenstein and his milieu. Apart from his publications, I particularly remember a wonderful lecture he gave in Stockholm some years ago on Eisenstein in Central Asia, which was absolutely fascinating and prompted me to work further on this topic. Needless to say, Kleiman was very  generous in helping me with material.

Sincerely,

Rashmi Doraiswamy

 

As a film teacher, I would like to add my name to the list of signatories appealing to Dmitry Medvedev to not remove Naum Kleiman and his staff from the Moscow Film Museum. I knew Kleiman’s remarkable work of archivist and scholar by my husband Fernaldo Di Giammatteo who spent in Moscow several months in different years analyzing the precious movies of the Moscow Film Museum. European cinema can’t miss this heritage and its custodians.

Cristina Bragaglia
Professor, Alma Mater University of Bologna

 

Per noi che frequentiamo il Museo da vent’anni, per gli studiosi di cinema e per tutti coloro che hanno avuto anche solo la minima opportunità di incontrare il direttore Naum Klejman e il suo staff, la perdita di un luogo così prezioso e straordinario, frutto di un’esperienza raccolta nel corso di venticinque anni, sarebbe davvero grave. E naturalmente, in quanto patrimonio cinematografico di tutta l’umanità, costituirebbe un forte segno di degrado per la cultura in generale.

Viviana del Bianco, Direttore
Grazia Santini, Direttore esecutivo
Sabina Viti, segreteria
Cristina Pucci, ufficio Stampa
Eugenia Gaglianone, Specialista cinema russo e sovietico
Olga Strada, corrispondente
N.I.C.E. New Italian Cinena Event, Firenze, Italy

 

Naum is not only a national treasure as one of the most eminent Russian scholars of international film, he is a great soul in the world family, and deserves to continue doing what he has done so thoughtfully and with such expertise for so many years. Dismissing him is a terrible, callous act and can only have the worst consequences for the film community in Russia.

Sincerely,
Donald Sosin & Joanna Seaton, film composers/musicians, New York

 

Naum Klejman is and has always been a bridge between cultures and nations. We need him and his Muzej kino in Moscow, where I have been treated with amazing friendliness by his great staff and himself. I hope the authorities in Russia will recognise that as well!

Adelheid Heftberger
Curator at the Austrian Film Museum, Vienna

 

Greetings !

I am really hurt to know that Russian Govt has decided to dismiss Naum Kleiman’s works, which is a treasure house for us filmmakers and academicians. We don’t understand the regional complexities, again we are the citizens of this World and it is our responsibility too, to protect the treasures of our history, time and culture.

I strongly oppose the idea of this kind of an dismissal and request the Russian Govt. to look back in justice.

Please do add my name to the list of signatories to this open letter to Dmitry Medvedev.

Anamika Bandopadhyay, Filmmaker, Author, Lecturer in Film-Studies
USA, Salt Lake City

 

No doubt I sign the letter to Medinskij — it was a shame to lay Naum Iyekhilyevich Kleiman off in the first place. After the tragic loss of Vladimir Yurevich Dmitriev last year Kleiman arguably is THE Russian film historian and theorist. Getting rid of cultural traditions is not just a national question, film culture is international and, after all, it was emigrants from Russia building what we now call Hollywood.

Ira Kormannshaus

 

Dear sir,

A film archive, by definition, holds and includes a variety of works reflecting the diversity of ideas and standpoints – both political and artistic – that have influenced their creation.

What is popular and politic one day can become its opposite another: history shows us that with sometimes violent clarity.

For these reasons many feel that the same grace once accorded to the King’s jester be allowed also to organisations that safeguard cultural work, museums and film archives, so as to preserve works whose importance and value has not yet come to be fully appreciated.

To silence or allow too firm a control over the Moscow Cinema Museum would be to deprive the rest of the world access to the riches, (both recognised and as yet, unappreciated) that the Russian cinema has to offer.

That would be a shame. I give my support to Naum Klejman and his team.

Agnès Torrens, Cinémathèque de Tours Henri Langlois, Tours France

 

I’m Anita Kravos, Italian actress, honorary president of the N.I.C.E. New Italian Cinema Events.

During the last 20 years our international Festival has benefit a lot of the specific qualities of the Moscow Cinema Museum.

Both United States and Europe look at the Russian Moscow Cinema Museum as an inspiration for creativity in industry system.

Naum Kleinman deservs your support. 

With respect,

Anita Kravos, N.I.C.E. New Italian Cinena Event, Firenze, Italy

 

Every archive makes a unique contribution to safeguarding the world’s cultural heritage. The Moscow Cinema Museum — with Naum and his wonderful colleagues — has long been a crucial part of a much larger whole.  Removing their immense knowledge and expertise will only serve to devalue the position of the Cinema Museum within that wider community.

Elaine Burrows, former archivist at BFI/NFTVA

 

I was lucky enough to be entertained by Naum Kleiman in Eisenstein’s flat four years ago, which turned out to be one of the most curious and profound experiences of my adult life. He truly is the keeper of the flame, without which we are surely in darkness. People of his stature are rare indeed, and must be cherished.

Rhidian Davis
Cultural Programme Manager
BFI Programme Dept.
British Film Institute

 

A qui de droit

Je mène depuis plusieurs années des recherches sur le cinéaste Sergueï Eisenstein. Sans le  patient et long travail accompli par Naoum Kleiman, sans sa passion et sa grande connaissance du cinéma, sans sa ferme conviction, envers et contre tout, qu’il est nécessaire que la Russie dispose d’un Musée du cinéma qui permette de conserver, de faire connaître et d’étudier le riche patrimoine cinématographique russe et soviétique, sans donc Naoum Kleiman et son équipe, sans l’existence du Musée du cinéma, jamais je n’aurais pu mener mes recherches et mes travaux. Je leur en suis infiniment reconnaissante.

C’est donc avec tristesse et consternation que j’ai suivi les dernières nouvelles relatives à l’équipe de Naoum Kleiman et à la défiance que leur a exprimée le Ministère de la Culture de la Fédération de Russie. La perspective que le Musée du cinéma de Moscou soit aujourd’hui menacé est effrayante. Cela signifie que le riche patrimoine qu’il contient, un patrimoine précieux et unique de l’histoire mondiale du cinéma, est donc menacé également. Il est urgent et indispensable que les collections du Musée du cinéma continuent à être scientifiquement archivées et valorisées mais aussi à être continuellement enrichies par une équipe sérieuse et compétente, comme cela a toujours été le cas sous la direction de Naoum Kleiman, afin de pouvoir être accessibles et étudiées par les chercheurs  et cinéphiles d’aujourd’hui et de demain.

Dans ce cadre, je soutiens totalement et inconditionnellement Naum Kleiman et son équipe, en espérant que la mobilisation internationale permettra de rétablir la situation.

Paris, le 1er novembre,

Ada Ackerman
Chargée de recherches au CNRS

 

Dear Sirs,

The fact of being far from Russia, far more from Moscow’s Museum and far more from being close to Mr. Naum Kleiman, shouldn’t stop me from expressing myself in this particularly concerning moment.

Sometimes distance helps to see clear. And, the more I stare at Mr. Kleiman portrait (posted all over again and again) the more I see a gentle, kind, loving man. Filmmaking teaches a little about reading people’s faces.

I have closely assisted to previous situations where arrogance – arrogant people are non-learners – wanted to display those we so call ‘Masters’. I recall the affair of Henri Langlois, and more recently the case João Bénard da Costa (at the Cinemateca Portuguesa). Reading statements posted from everywhere in the world, I can’t avoid establishing a parallel to the present situation.

The fact of thinking to send home a man whose knowledge, love and dedication are an enormous gift to Culture and History seams to me a presumptuous mistake too difficult to accept and impossible to repair.

So, from my humble chair, I deeply thank to Mr. Naum Kleiman and I still hope previous examples can be good ones, for all of us helping to prevent such injustice fault.

Rita Azevedo Gomes
Filmmaker
Programmer at the Cinemateca Portuguesa-Museu do Cinemateca

 

To Prime-Minister of Russian Government, Dmitry Medvedev

With great concern we have heard that a fellow film archivist and historian, Naum Kleijman, whom we regard as one of the most important figures in the world in our field, has been put out of office and has been replaced with someone else, who by all accounts seems to be unable to cope with the task. Consequently, the entire team at the Filmmuseum in Mosvow has resigned, and one of the most important repositories of knowledge about Russian and international cinema is rendered without brain, without head, and without heart.

This is only the last blow in a longer chain of administrative decisions that have made it difficult for the Filmmuseum to continue its valuable work over the last few years.

We wonder, why your government does not stop all the attempts to darken the days Mr. Kleijman — a man of world-wide recognition. We do not believe that ridiculous allegations and bureaucratic actions to make his life and work more difficult are the intention of the Russian government. We strongly believe it should be expected from competent authorities that they would do everything possible to help the fantastic institution that the Moscow Filmmuseum is.

We urge you to step in and stop the destruction of the Filmmuseum, reinstate Naum Klejman and his team and support the famous Filmmusem corresponding to its worldwide reputation. It goes without saying that this reputation was mainly gained by Naum Klejman’s efforts during the last decades.

Dr. Rainer Rother
Deutsche Kinemathek — Museum für Film und Fernsehen
Berlin

 

I adamantly support re-instating Naum Kleiman and his staff at the Russian Cinematheque in Moscow. Anyone who loves world cinema understands the value of Russian films and their significant contribution to world culture. One cannot under-estimate the necessity of a stewardship that  can best maintain and continue to cultivate that rich and meaningful legacy. Other than the late Henril Langois in France, I cannot think of a more qualified leader than Naum Kleiman. To dismiss him is to deprive us all of what’s essential and at the core of any movie of true value: The need to keep us awake to the moment while engaging our hearts and minds in questioning who we are, where we’ve been and where we’re going. I feel that to stand by his dismissal would be a tragedy and respectfully hope that re-instating him be given profound consideration.

Clark Middleton
actor, director, writer, teacher  New York City, NY, USA

 

Un art ne peut pas exister sans sa mémoire. Les cinémathèques sont les mémoires du cinéma, elles doivent être protégées et dirigées par des gens compétents et attentifs au respect des oeuvres.

Luc Beraud, réalisateur-scénariste, France

 

I have met Mr. Kleiman in 2005 during Europalia.Russia in Brussels.

We organised masterclasses and screenings with him around and about the film art of Sergueï M. Eisenstein.

These events were as successful as the were inspiring for me, my colleagues and my students. I want to express my wish that Mr. Kleiman needs to stay director of the Moscow Cinema Museum.

Wouter Hessels, Lecturer Film & Media Studies, RITS School of Arts, Brussels, Belgium