Country of great culture: literary lounge of the "Knowledge" Society at the RUSSIA EXPO gathered more than 1000 guests

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On July 6, the last meeting in the literary lounge organized by the "Knowledge" Society at the International RUSSIA EXPO took place in a warm and friendly atmosphere. The guest of the final event was actor and film director Alexei Chadov. He talked to representatives of different generations about his favorite works of Russian classics, cinema and theater and told how his creative path was shaped.

The literary lounge is another format of educational meetings of the "Knowledge" Society at the RUSSIA EXPO. Its guests talked about our country's achievements in the arts, attended creative meetings, acoustic concerts and performances.

"You can say as much as you like that books are not so popular today, but reality proves quite the opposite. The literary lounge of the "Knowledge" Society has gathered 1000 guests in a little more than a month. And this is despite the fact that our speakers often addressed serious topics. But, as we see, there is a demand for such discussions, and it is very gratifying. It seems to me that any conversation about literature somehow turns into a reflection on oneself, which is probably why our meetings aroused such interest among young people," said Kirill Khvil, Deputy Director General of the Russian Society "Knowledge".

At the beginning of today's meeting actor and director Alexei Chadov shared his memories of the first books he read and his attitude to literature at school. One of his favorite works is the story "Kholstomer" (also translated as "Strider") by Leo Tolstoy. Alexei noted that he loves not only the text itself, but also Georgy Tovstonogov's greatest production based on it.

"In my youth I was engaged in the theater studio, and we decided to put on a play based on this story, where I got the role of Kholstomer. We read the story with the guys, and I began to think how to put it, how to convey it all through the animal world, through the piebald gelding, an outcast, through his difficult fate, what approach can be invented. Then we watched the television version of the great play at the BDT and realized that it was spectacular, interesting, unusual. When I watched it, could not take my eyes off," shared memories of Alexei Chadov.

The actor spoke extensively about theater in general and emphasized that, of course, performances are best experienced live.

"You need to come to the theater for its atmosphere, its air, its chemistry — it's crazy and incredible," explained Alexei Chadov.

Today in the literary lounge they talked about cinema and remembered the legendary film director, screenwriter, producer Alexei Balabanov. Working with him became a very important and responsible stage for Alexei Chadov at the beginning of his career, when it was necessary to showcase oneself to the fullest.

"I was lucky to work with Alexei Balabanov. He was the greatest person who could feel the time ahead, he was truly a people's director. When I was friends with him, went to festivals, he was always among the audience, not in the VIP-zones, he did not ride in cars, preferring to walk," said Alexei Chadov.

Listeners learned how Alexei Chadov came to directing. He told the audience about his movie "John".

"Once I was asked how it felt to sit in the director's chair, but I didn't sit; I ran. I wasn't immediate confirmed for the role of director of the film that I had conceived, written the story for, and where I was supposed to play the main role. At some point, when we were finishing work on the script, we started to think about who would shoot it. And in the company, I let slip that it was a pity to give away the story, it's like a child to me; internally, I really wanted to make this film myself," shared Alexei Chadov.

The work of the director was very difficult — 50 shooting days without stopping in a dynamic rhythm. It was an incredible challenge, but Alexei expected it and successfully coped, found the strength. Two and a half years passed from the beginning of the writing of the script to the release of the picture.

The guests listened to the speaker with interest, and most importantly, everyone had the opportunity to ask questions and participate in the discussion. It should be reminded that the Russian Society "Knowledge" is the general partner of the educational program of the RUSSIA EXPO. In nine months, more than 5,000 lecturers spoke in the lecture halls of the educational organization.