ARARAT Speakers Night

Ingeborga Dapkunaite shares her view on the issues of the contemporary cinema The third episode of ARARAT Speakers Night series was held on February 9th at one of the most iconic places of modern Yerevan - Cafesjian Center for the Arts. Within the frames of the meeting named “The Cinema Today” the famous actress Ingeborga Dapkunaite shared her unique experience of successful entry into the international theater and cinema contexts. “We are pleased to see how recently launched ARARAT Speakers Night initiative has become such a success and invites not only interesting speakers, but also an amazing audience, which shares our interest in the outlined issues. I would like to highlight that this is the first time that we are doing an event outside ARARAT Museum at an incredibly interesting venue - Cafesjian Center for the Arts, which became another wonderful illustration of cross-museum cooperation. ARARAT Speakers Night with Ingeborga Dapkunaite was held in a much broader format and the interview was followed by a reading part conducted by our guest, where the audience received new emotions and unforgettable moments,” said Karine Madelrieu, director of Sales and Marketing of the Yerevan Brandy Company. Throughout her entire career Ingeborga Dapkunaite successfully crossed both geographical and genre borders creating remarkable images on screen and theater not only in Russia, but also outside. From Kisulya in the cult movie “Intergirl” directed by Pyotr Todorovsky to Empress Maria Feodorovna in Alexei Uchitel’s movie “Matilda”- the wide variety of roles she played guaranteed recognition from the experts of the cinematography and honorable place in the jury of such prestigious international festivals as Cannes, Venice and Berlinale. What does it take an actor/actress to fit into the international paradigm of "the most important of all art forms", is it important to maintain authenticity in the era of Scorsese, Tarantino and Guillermo del Toro shooting classic Hollywood movies, while the local films, which often win at the international festivals, cannot bear the burden of comparison with the international films. Despite or thanks to "local roots" an actor/actress can become popular in the world of cinematography and how important the fame gained out of the set is for the success in the cinema. These and other questions were discussed during ARARAT Speakers Night the moderator of which was the well-known Armenian journalist Artak Aleksanyan. “First of all Art is a great tool of communication, it's a way of exchanging information,” noted Ingeborga Dapkunaite during the meeting and characterized the difference between theater and cinema the following way: "Perhaps the most important difference between theater and cinema is the immediate perception of the theater, whereas the cinema also leaves some room for a refined game.” The works of Ingeborga Dapkunaite both in the mainstream cinema and art-house, which successfully defined the silhouette of modern cinema, nevertheless do not keep away the actress from new roles in the theater. Her recent roles in theater include the performance "Giacomo Variations" with John Malkovich and the "Circus" in the Theater of Nations. Since 2013 Ingeborga Dapkunaite has been actively involved in educational activities within the frames of the Moscow Film School, where the modern cinema is taught by those who achieved success in the obvious past. Ingeborga Dapkunaite Ingeborga Dapkunaite is a well-known actress of theater and cinema. She graduated from the Lithuanian State Conservatory, Department of Theater Arts. Popularity came to her with such movies as Pyotr Todorovsky's "Intergirl", Dmitry Meskhiev's "Cynics", Valery Todorovsky's "Podmoskovnye Vechera", Nikita Mikhalkov's "Burnt by the Sun", Alexei Balabanov's " War" and "Morphine", Alexei Uchitel's "Matilda". She is starring in films and TV series in Russia, Great Britain, Belgium, France, USA, Norway, Sweden, worked in theaters in Vilnius, Chicago, London, Vienna, Moscow. Ingeborga Dapkunaite has been awarded with international prizes for her unique roles in the cinema. She was a member of the Jury at the International festivals in Berlin, Cannes, Venice. Curator of the Faculty of "Actor's mastery" in the Moscow Film School. For 11 years Ingeborga Dapkunaite was actively engaged in charity, is co-chairman of the Board of Trustees of Vera Hospice charity fund. ARARAT Speakers Night is a unique arttainment project held in the format of public talk. ARARAT Speakers Night is a special series of meetings and discussions, an intellectual space, where professionals from different spheres including experts, artists, opinion leaders, journalists and representatives of contemporary art present their thoughts on urgent issues. Among the speakers of ARARAT Speakers Night Series were Hollywood actor John Malkovich, Zelfira Tregulova, director of the Russian State Tretyakov Gallery and Danilo Eccher, Italian contemporary art critic.