A presentation of the American Cinematheque and Seagull Films.This series is made possible with the generous support of the Trust for Mutual Understanding and George Gund III."Like Mario Bava, William Cameron Menzies, and George Pal, Ptushko was part tinkerer, part inventor, and part artist, whose fantastic imagination produced works of pure visual inventiveness."-Alan UpchurchOne of the great poets and innovators in the world of fantasy filmmaking, Soviet director and visual effects pioneer Alexander Ptushko (1900-1973) has been referred to as "the Russian Spielberg," and his best work might also be compared to Méliès, Cocteau, and Bava for its irridescent beauty and magic. Ptushko created his own epic fantasy world filled with wind demons, sorcerers, and enchanted stone gardens. In 1933, Ptushko directed one of the world's first full-length animated features, The New Gulliver-four years before Disney's Snow White-and went on to make the haunting masterpiece Stone Flower, Russia's first color feature, and other astonishing fantasies. The special effects Ptushko pioneered in these films predate many of the techniques familiar to U.S. audiences from Ray Harryhausen's Jason and the Argonauts, Terry Gilliam's The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, and others.Sadly, Ptushko's films have only been available in the U.S. in versions that were poorly dubbed, drastically recut, and often rephotographed from the original 'scope format to distorted pan-and-scan versions. (In fact, early in his career, director Francis Ford Coppola was assigned to re-edit Ptushko's Sadko for American release as The Magic Voyage of Sinbad.) Several of Ptushko's films have never been seen in the U.S. in any form. This series will feature brand new 35mm, subtitled prints of the original Russian-language versions-the result of over seven years' work between the American Cinematheque in Los Angeles and Seagull Films in New York.-Dennis BartokSeries compiled and program notes and credits provided by Dennis Bartok and Alla Verlotsky. Alan Upchurch quotations from Video Watchdog: The Perfectionist's Guide to Fantastic Video, Nos. 8 and 9.All prints from Seagull Films.Fantastika! The Films of Alexander Ptushko plays again at the Rafael Film Center in June.
