From Russia with love as TV series explores cultural links

A Russian who has legally changed his name to Seán O’Brien and runs an Irish Republican themed bar in Moscow, is set to feature in a new four-part documentary being broadcast on TG4 from next Thursday. He will be seen alongside a man who has Irish language tattoos all over his body and who refers to Ireland as ‘the land of freedom’.

These are among the participants in Radharc na Rúise, the work of Galway based Counterpoint Films which is run by husband and wife team Colm Hogan and Marina Levitina.

The two met in 2002, when Marina first came to Ireland to work on a documentary on the late philosopher, poet and priest, John O’Donohue. Moscow-born Marina had been introduced to the world of filmmaking in the 1990s when American filmmaker Betty Scarborough made a documentary on her family during the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Inspired by that experience, Marina spent a decade in America where she studied film production and graduated with an MA from Harvard. Some years later Betsy invited her to Ireland as co-producer of a film on John O’Donohue. They hired Colm Hogan as a camera man – a fateful decision.

Marina and Colm fell in love and she moved to Ireland. The got married with John O’Donohue performing the ceremony. Marina continued her studies in Trinity where she got a PhD in Russian film and culture. She now lectures in film in Trinity and in NUIG while Colm works mainly as a stills photographer specialising in film, television, theatre, dance and documentary. The couple live in Cloughanover, outside Headford, and they jointly operate Counterpoint Films, which previously produced John O’Donoghue; Anam Cara in 2008 and Kingerlee in 2011.

The beautifully shot Radharc na Rúise is their latest project.“Because I’m Russian and Colm is Irish we are curious about the Russian-Irish connection,” says Marina. “And when I go back to Moscow, I’ve always noticed the appreciation for the Irish in Russia – even people who have never been here. It’s amazing the positive reaction you get when you mention the word Ireland.”

Writers including Brian Friel, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett and Martin McDonagh are very popular among theatre goers in St Petersburg. In addition, an improvised traditional Irish music is popular among some Russians, explains Marina.

“There’s also a lot of interest in Irish history and the relationship between Ireland and England.”

She’s not saying everybody in Russia knows or cares about Ireland, but there is a lot of interest, as is captured in the interviews for this series.

“Some of these people have never been to Ireland, so it’s an imagined Ireland sometimes. There are people who have never visited but who are deeply passionate about Irish culture.”

These include a young woman, Ilona whose walls are covered in photos of Pádraig Pearse and Michael Collins. She works in education and lectures people on Irish culture. Despite never having been here, Ilona has a profound knowledge of, and passion for all things Irish, especially our culture.

For more, read this week's Connacht Tribune.