Beauty And The Beast: The Empire Of Broken Dreams...

Vogue Editorial
I will, probably, never get tired of speaking about the sources of inspiration in my life. One of them is the magic of cinema. Cinema is something I have been in love with ever since I was a little girl. I was born in the country which no longer exists - USSR. Closed to the outside world, reclusive,hostile. Even during the years of Stalin's totalitarian dictatorship, Art (Yes, ART!) produced it's idols and it's stars, which were worshiped by millions of Russian people. I remember being 3 and completely in love with Cinderella story, played by beautiful Janina Zheimo.I look back and I realize now what an impact movie stars of that generation had on me. For that I will be eternally grateful. Back than Soviet movie stars, the stars of opera and ballet took one of the most privileged places in Soviet society.In spite of the Iron Curtain, many actresses of Stalin's Era imitated the hairstyles and makeup of Greta Garbo. What interested me the most was not only the Cinema of that era itself, but the off screen lives of the beauties who created pure magic for me...Once I did my research, I could not hold my tears back....

Tatiana Okynevskaya
Tatiana Okynevskaya, for example, was one of the most beloved movie stars of the Soviet era. She was drop dead gorgeous, talented and very popular in her time. She also had one of the most tragic lives one could ever imagine. Even the love of the people could not protect her from the fury of the Beast. Tatiana was arrested in 1948 and falsely accused of the fact that she wanted to stay abroad while touring (yes, refusal to go back to the USSR was considered a crime) and for becoming "too close to a Yugoslav". She was tortured, bitten and spent years in prisons and concentration camps. She survived, was released after the death of Stalin, but was never able to go back to be an actress. She died in Moscow on May 16th of 2002.

Zoya Fyodorova

Zoya Fyodorova, for instance, was one of the most popular move stars of her time. She stared in dozens of movie productions and was twice a recipient of very prestigious Stalin's Prize - there was no higher degree of recognition in the Soviet Union. She had a misfortune to fall in love with an American Officer. Zoya became pregnant with the baby of her American love, but was arrested and thrown in prison before she could tell him about the baby. She was accused of being a spy. She was viciously bitten during the long periods of time, burned with boiling water and tortured. She was sent to concentration camp for the duration of 25 years. Zoya was released after the death of Stalin in 1955. She was luckier than many others. She was able to resume her movie career almost immediately and even played a part in iconic movie of the time :"Moscow Doesn't Believe Tears" ("Москва Слезам Не Верит").

Valentina Serova

Cinema was a very powerful medium of Stalin's propaganda. The physical extermination of enormous quantities of men during continuous repressions resulted in the fact that Socialism in USSR was no longer possible without women's labor. And from there on women were deployed to work in heavy construction , military factories, coal mines...Movies of that time glorified the image of the girl who made her living doing hard labor.In reality millions and millions of men, women and children were working in concentration labor camps created by Stalin.Lidia Ryslanova

Lidia Ryslanova - undeniably the one of the most talented and beloved performers of the Soviet era was also sentenced to 10 years of concentration camps.She was too falsely accused of being a spy. She later wrote in her memories that during her time in labor camps she met many other actors, actresses, artists and writers who were serving time in Stalin's GULAG.

Lidiya Smirnova

Tamara Makarova

Klavdiya Shuljenko
There are many more examples, I simply will ran out of Blog space if I would attempt to tell the story of each one of them.I always thought that it is extremely important to remember the place you came from. To be able to find beauty and divine in darkest places. To me this beautiful women will always represent the source of great inspiration. They touched my life with their grace, beauty and talent when I was to small to even understand the meaning of this words.

Vogue Editorial