February 26 the Russian Geographical Society premiered a documentary “Wings. Gates of the Far North” at its HQ in Moscow. The film was made with the assistance of the Krasnoyarsk regional branch of the Society. The event was held as part of the Journey through Russia – 2018 Film Festival.
The documentary “Wings. Gates of the Far North” tells about the first period of the polar aviation from 1925 to 1935. Characters in the film - pilots Victor Galyshev, Vasily Molokov, Boris Chukhnovsky, Fedor Kukanov, Yan Lipp and others – planned routes through the Krasnoyarsk region and the Arctic North, made maps of Siberia and the Far East and rescued passengers from ships stuck in sea ice. Their planes rose up in the air from Molokov Island in Krasnoyarsk where there was a hydro airbase called “gates of the Far North”.
Elina Astrakhantseva, a film director and member of the Russian Geographical Society, made a presentation of the film. She said that the film was based on newsreels. “A documentary director is like researcher. Before you start shooting, you have to study a lot of different books, meet experts and see consultants… We've had incredibly many materials. And we’ve chosen what we thought most important,” – emphasized Elina Astrakhantseva.
First Vice President of the Russian Geographical Society Artur Chilingarov, Acting Minister of Culture of the Krasnoyarsk region Elena Mironenko, chairman of the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Society Igor Spridenko and the historian and Russian Geographical Society member Vyacheslav Filippov visited the event.