This is a special work among the films that tell about the winners of the National Crystal Compass Award Photo: Project “Obshee Delo: Vozrozhdenie derevyannykh hramov Severa” (eng. “Common Cause: Revival of Wooden Churches of the North”) / vk.ru/obsheedelosever
The premiere of the documentary film «Hands That Hold Up the Sky» will take place on September 16, in Sochi, as part of the 21st International Film Festival «We Won Together» named after Vladimir Menshov. The film about a project that brought together thousands of volunteers from across the country was created by the organizing committee of the National Crystal Compass Award, the Russian Geographical Society, the TV company «Pod Znakom Pi, ” and the «Chaika» production center, with the support of the «Russian Cross» aid fund.
The film «Hands That Hold Up the Sky» tells the story of the large-scale project «Common Cause: Revival of Wooden Churches of the North, ” which was awarded the National Crystal Compass Award.
Since 1917, the number of churches in the North has decreased from 1,302 to fewer than 400. Without urgent action, the remaining part of the heritage could also disappear. Father Aleksey Yakovlev and his wife Tatyana visited the Russian North and restored the church in the village of Vorzogory. This is how the «Common Cause» project came into being. Over the course of 19 years, thousands of volunteers from all over the country have joined it: managers, mining engineers, bank employees, and many others. Their personal stories show that such work is not limited to «special devotees, ” but is accessible to ordinary people.
The project has already involved about 700 expeditions, examined 360 monuments of wooden architecture, and carried out emergency and conservation work in 205 churches and chapels; some have been fully restored, and in 50 of them, divine liturgies have been celebrated for the first time in decades since the buildings were closed.
The film will be presented in Sochi by general producer Ivan Chaika, director Natalya Mozilova, and chief coordinator of the project «Common Cause: Revival of Wooden Churches of the North» Lidia Kuritsyna.
«This is a special work among the films telling about the winners of the National Crystal Compass Award. It is about people who not only preserve our cultural heritage but, through their example and civic stance, enable others to discover the best facets of their own souls», noted Ivan Chaika, the author of the idea and the film’s general producer, and chairman of the organizing committee of the National Crystal Compass Award».
The premiere of the documentary «Hands That Hold Up the Sky» will take place on September 16 at the «Rodina» cinema at 7:00 p.m.
The Crystal Compass Award, under the auspices of the Russian Geographical Society, is awarded annually for outstanding achievements and scientific research in the field of geography, ecology, and related sciences, or for a significant contribution to the preservation of natural, historical, and cultural heritage, technological developments, and the development of society. This is one of the main and most prestigious geographical awards in the world. Over 13 years, nearly 5,000 author teams from 51 countries have been nominated for the award. In the special category «Public Recognition, ” where the laureates are selected through online voting, nearly 1.2 million people expressed their preferences.