Nataya at UCLA

"The idea is that there's a lot of great films from a great country, so it will be a good time," MacFadyen said. "People will be exposed to new, important, interesting films and music, so they might go off and try to find more after the festival."

Los Angeles fashion designer Nataya, of Russian and Uzbek origin, will be displaying her work in the foyer while Moscow-born songwriter Aleksei Kiskachi will be performing acoustic music during the festival.

"Even though [MacFadyen] has been working in the States, he knows more about Russian culture and music than the majority of people in the industry," said Ilya Lagutenko, lead singer of the country's hippest band, Mumiy Troll.

MacFadyen hopes the festival will grow and attract even more notable artists in years to come, reflecting the growing presence of Russian culture and émigrés in Southern California. Mumiy Troll was originally scheduled to perform today and Friday at the Roxy as part of the celebration, but Lagutenko had an emergency appendectomy last weekend that forced the band to cancel the shows.

Popular director Valery Todorovsky anticipates a mixed crowd of those who'll need the subtitles and those who won't.

LA Times