Lily Golden & Lily Dixon

 

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      «BLACK RUSSIANS»

 

      Synopsis (english./russian)

 

 

 

      Dear Sirs!

      We would like to offer the project devoted to a little-known but rather important page of Russian history for your consideration.
      As many people in the contemporary world see the cause of geopolitical cataclysms in the West – East or North – South confrontation, the theme of human rights and the problem of racialism continue to be urgent.
      The idea of making a documentary tentatively titled “Black Russians” has arisen in the above context.
      The project authors were fascinated by the Africans whose destines were inwrought with the destines of Russia.
      We intend to tell the story of the Africans’ role in the history of the Russian state and their contribution to Russian history and culture.
      We are sure that the protagonists of our project, their past and present will be of interest not only in Russia, but in the whole world as well.
      This will be a film telling about love as love ranks rather high in the lives of our protagonists. Many a story started from love – love to a woman, love to life, love to their hope.
      Histories of the states, original culture of immigrants, political events, melodramatic stories of the protagonists’ private lives – all these will make the subject of the film intended for 56-60 min of screen time.
      We shall offer an exciting dynamic story that develops in accordance with the rules of the games and comprises real facts, historical documents, exclusive interviews, and objective analysis. The film will include documents from the archives, newsreel shots from the TV archives, extracts from newspaper articles of the previous years.
      It is the opinion of the authors that the given project’s theme will be of interest for world TV companies, university video collections of various countries, and international thematic film festivals.

Yours truly,
Lily Dixon


      In the history of Russia there were not so many Africans as compared with both Americas and Europe. Anyhow, they made their small but valuable contribution to the history and culture of the Russian state.
      In Russia the first Africans appeared on the Black Sea coast over three hundred years ago as a result of slave-trade practiced by the Ottoman Empire. Their descendants still live and toil at the same territories.
      According to the archive documents to be used in the course of the work on the film we find out that Peter the Great showed genuine interest in the destinies of the migrants from Africa. His friend Lefort insisted that Africans should be brought to Russia as hard workers. Count Razumovskii, another friend of czar Peter brought several Africans from Turkey including Gannibal who became a great soldier and ancestor of the genus in poetry. This fact ill be commented by M.M. Khutsiyev, famous film director. Obviously, we are unable to pay proper attention to a large-scale personality of Alexander Sergeyevitch Pushkin requiring special representation, but we shall underline the African roots of the poet who repeatedly mentioned them in such his works as “Eugene Onegin”, “Blackamoor of Peter the Great”, etc. and present the opinions of Russian poets M.I. Tsvetayeva and V.V. Mayakovsky.
      One of the film events will be devoted to Ira Aldridge, famous Senegalese actor who played lead roles in Shakespeare’s plays on the stages of America, Great Britain, and Europe. He took part in reforming the Russian theatre and contributed to preparation of the Russian self-awareness for he abolition of serfdom. Aldridge was friends with T. Shevchenko, well-known Ukrainian poet, and helped him to get free from serfdom.
      In early 30-s of the last century several black and mixed families came to Russia from America and Africa under the auspices of the Comintern. They were chiefly specialists in the spheres of industrial production and agriculture. The technical equipment, modest means, and professional experience brought by them were an appreciable contribution to economic development of a new state. Among them were Oliver John Golden and his wife Bertha (he brought with him a group of 16 Afro-American experts in the cultivation of cotton), well-known Afro-American poet Langston Hughes with a group of 22 moviemakers, Paul Robeson with his family and many others. Some of them stayed in Russia forever. Among their descendants are scientists, professors, journalists, doctors, poets, and actors.
      In early 60-s the African nations gained independence one after another. The USSR offered them assistance in training their specialists in the Soviet higher educational institutions. According to the statistics, 400 thousand African students were trained in the country institutes for 40 years. Many of them settled down to married life and assimilated in Russia. Their children and grandchildren live and work in various cities of the Russian Federation. Most of them know about Africa by mere report and the only heritage of their historical fatherland is the skin color.
      Alongside with positive changes, the long-awaited perestroika together with democracy and freedom of speech also brought about such phenomena as social inequality, chauvinism, and xenophobia. Independent of their social status, gender, or age, Black Russians are subjected to threats and violence on the part of new-sprung fascists and skinheads. There appeared social racialism closely associated with economic instability. Nonetheless the descendants of Africans living in the country consider Russia their only Motherland, daily work to contribute to welfare of their state, and are the estimable members of this society. We know well such names as Elena Hanga, journalist and popular TV narrator, Anton Zaitsev, TV narrator, Grigory Siyatvinda, popular theater and film actor...

Yours truly,
Lily Golden



Lily Golden:
      Afro-American by origin, historian, professor of the Chicago University. Has published several books and articles on history of Africans in Russia and delivered lectures on this subject in more than 90 American universities, as well as in many universities of Europe, Asia, and Africa. She is the member of the leadership of several international organizations, including International Black Women Institute, Afro-American Leaders and African Presidents Summit. Widow of the Vice-President of Tanzania; her daughter Elena Hanga, graduate of the faculty of journalism of the Moscow State University, is a well-known TV narrator.

Lily Dixon:
      African-Russian by origin, producer. Graduated from the economic faculty of the All-Russian Institute of Cinematography; in 1992-94 headed an advertising and information agency in Moscow; has gained acting experience and worked as a TV narrator; in 1995-96 worked for GBC as advertising and marketing manager; author and producer of several cinema And TV projects; in 1996 took part in the presidential-election campaign in Ghana; in 2001 was the narrator of the Moscow International Human Rights Film Festival “Stalker”; member of the Ghanaian Guild of Filmmakers and of the Council of Young Filmmakers with the Russian Union of Filmmakers.

C o n t a c t :
Tel: 007 (095) 282 48 49
Cell: 007 (903) 119 51 24
E-male: liliandixon@yahoo.com


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