HISTORY OF PECHKA
how the fire was lit
The “Pechka” festival grew out of an expedition to the villages of the Russian North and several (not so) random encounters.
EXPEDITION TO THE RUSSIAN NORTH
From January 27 to February 4 2020, three students from N.V. Kotyash’s directing workshop at St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture and Arts — Denis Agafonov, Nikolai Chertoroev, and Ekaterina Pavlyukova — along with 14 students from the Geography Department of Moscow State University, set off on an expedition to the villages of the Russian North. The trip was led by teachers from Moscow State University and specialists from the Institute of Geography of the Russian Academy of Sciences, including Ksenia Averkieva — the ideological driving force behind the expedition and a future member of the “Pechka” jury from the scientific community — and Nikolai Kotyash, an associate professor at the Department of Directing at St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture and Arts, who will be the future organizer of the festival. The route passed through the Verkhovazhsky District of the Vologda Region.
The goal was to understand how rural areas of the Non-Black Earth region live, who the people of the Russian North are, and to explore the phenomenon of downshifting — to meet city dwellers who had consciously moved to the countryside.
Each day was filled with encounters. The participants met with heads of local administrations, farmers, masters of pottery and wooden architecture, as well as the founder of an amateur Orthodox theater. They conducted in-depth interviews and sociological surveys.
Among the interviewees were Svetlana Stepanova, organizer of an international pottery festival (and future technical director of "Pechka"), restorers Evgeny Rakov and Yury Sharonov, and Sergei Istomin, head of an Orthodox theater. Many of these encounters later influenced the festival's creation.
Among the interviewees were Svetlana Stepanova, organizer of an international pottery festival (and future technical director of "Pechka"), restorers Evgeny Rakov and Yury Sharonov, and Sergei Istomin, head of an Orthodox theater. Many of these encounters later influenced the festival's creation.
The result of the expedition
The expedition resulted in the documentary film "Soul of the North" — a collective portrait of the inhabitants of a northern village. In March 2021 the film was screened at the lecture hall of the Russian Geographical Society in Moscow.
INTERESTING FACT
The name of the festival was born by accident. The future co-organizer Svetlana Stepanova watched a live broadcast from the Russian Geographical Society in her home in Shelot, using a Russian stove as a screen for the projector. This fact was remembered when choosing a name for the festival of village cinema. Thus, "Pechka" was born.
THE IDEA OF THE FESTIVAL
The idea for the festival emerged during a session of the directing workshop at St. Petersburg State Institute of Culture and Arts, when they were discussing the upcoming screening of “Souls of the North” and Ekaterina Pavlyukova’s course work “Vanya,” which was shot in Sheloty in the summer of 2020 — the place where these films were made. It was important for the films to be seen by their protagonists and participants. The workshop leader, Nikolai Kotyash, suggested not limiting the screening to two short films, but putting together a full‑fledged program about village life.
This is how the idea of a festival was born, where cinema becomes a reason to talk about the village, its people, traditions, and future.
Since then, “Pechka” has been held annually, evolving into an international festival that gathers thousands of entries from dozens of countries around the world. Remaining the only film festival about the village in Russia.
This is how the idea of a festival was born, where cinema becomes a reason to talk about the village, its people, traditions, and future.
Since then, “Pechka” has been held annually, evolving into an international festival that gathers thousands of entries from dozens of countries around the world. Remaining the only film festival about the village in Russia.