We are delighted that Roma Liberov has agreed to speak to the Society again, to tell us about some of the exciting cultural projects he is currently involved in. In his talk Roma Liberov will first tell us about the wave of emigration from Russia since February 2022. Among those who left are creators of all kinds: artists, performers, musicians, directors, poets, dancers, photographers, cinematographers and more. Roma will tell us about the multifaceted creative activities of these new émigrés, who wish to remain true to their Russian cultural identity, while building a stimulating and fulfilling cultural environment in their country of adoption and becoming part of a new community. He will explain to us the vision these émigrés share of creating “a beautiful Russia of today”, beyond geographic borders, and of promoting Russian culture in the very best sense of the term.
Roma will then describe – with the aid of video and audio recordings - some of the specific projects he has been involved in creating since 24 February 2022. These include two music albums: After Russia, in which exiled popular musicians of today revisit Russian émigré poetry of 100 years ago; and Keys to Home, which is a collection of songs based on poems addressed to those who have left home. Other projects which he will mention include the concert film "We Exist!", which features Russian musicians who left Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, and a music video, In Memory of Alexei Navalny. He will also mention the music video, In Court, which he produced about the trial (for allegedly “justifying terrorism”) of theatre director and anti-war poet Yevgeniya (Zhenya) Berkovich and playwright Svetlana Petriychuk. This video is based on court-room sketches and the statement which Zhenya Berkovich made in verse (!) to the Zamoskvoretskiy District Court in January 2024. Zhenya Berkovich and Svetlana Petriychuk were accused of “justifying terrorism” by virtue of their play, “Finist, the Brave Falcon,” for which - following conviction in July 2024 – they were each sentenced to six years’ imprisonment.
Roma will go on to tell us about the We Exist! Foundation, which he has recently established with the entrepreneur, Eduard Panteleev, with the aim of producing, creating and supporting performances, concerts, exhibitions, films, public events, journalism, and educational projects across the new diaspora - from Belgrade to New York, from Paris, London, and Berlin to Buenos Aires, from Tbilisi and Yerevan to Montreal and Almaty. And he will tell us about some of the projects he and the Foundation are currently working on.
Roma Liberov is a highly acclaimed Russian film director, screenwriter and producer. Roma was born in 1980, in Vilnius. He graduated in film direction studies at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography in Moscow and for six years worked at the BBC. During the next decade he made films about various Russian writers – Yuri Olesha («Юрий Олеша по кличке “писатель”», 2009), Iosif Brodsky («Pазговор с небожителем», 2010), Georgi Vladimov («Один день Жоры Владимова», 2011), Sergei Dovlatov («Hаписано С.Д.», 2012) and Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov («Ильфипетров», 2013). And in 2015 he made a film about the life and work of Osip Mandelstam, one of the greatest Russian poets of the 20th century: «Сохрани мою речь навсегда...» (“Keep my words forever...”). Some members will recall the screening of this inspirational film which the Society arranged at King’s College, London University in May 2024, when Roma Liberov introduced the film and spoke to us afterwards about it.
Booking will close 48 hours before the scheduled date for the event, i.e. by 7.00 pm on Tuesday, 28th January, so that we can notify KCL in advance of the names of those who have booked to attend in-person. GBRS will disseminate the Microsoft Teams link by email to online attendees on Wednesday, 29th February, the day before the talk on Thursday, 30th January.