Idea: Alexander Vasilyev
Script and director: Elena Zommer
Camera: Eduard Zommer
Music:
Expedition to Botogol: Alexander Vasilyev
Support in France: Daniel, Rolande and Sabine Leclerc
Producers: Tania
Lozansky (USA), Kirill
Voloshin (Russia)
We would like to tell a story which spans more than a century. This story meanders through France, Russia, Germany, England...
Jean-Pierre Alibert was born in France in 1820. This Frenchman, a
pragmatist by nature and a romantic at heart, conquered the raw
forces of Siberian nature and captured worldwide fame for
discovering Russian graphite in the middle of the 19th
century. Alibert was a trader, a miner and a dauntless dreamer. He
was worshipped by Siberian tribes people and admired throughout
Europe. Count Muraviev-Amursky, Governor General of Irkutsk, as well
as members of St. Petersburg scientific and artistic elites greatly
valued Alibert's achievements.
Alibert had an extraordinary personality. Here is a testimony from a contemporary as quoted in Le Figaro on August 22, 1884: "... Alibert's life is the most amazing fantasy one can imagine. His name could easily replace characters in novels by Jules Verne and Boussenard". It is not a coincidence that this article in Le Figaro was entitled "Romance of a Gold-Seeker". Alibert's life was full of adventure and fantasy, and his passion for Siberia, which lasted his entire life, can doubtlessly be called a romance. Nevertheless, Alibert was not only a dreamer, but an ambitious and resourceful individual. His motivation was to help people in the name of progress.
"Alibert's graphite", "Alibert's pencils" - these concepts became household names in Europe's engineering, architectural and artistic circles in the second half of the 19th century. These and many other articles collected by Alibert during his life in Siberia and the Russian Far East are currently on display in a museum in Riom, his hometown. A mountain resort in France still has a replica construction of Alibert's Mariinsky mine buildings on the Botogol Mountain in Siberian Sayan Mountains. The Faber-Castell Factory Museum in Germany also has samples of products that were manufactured using Alibert's Siberian graphite. Although these items have all been carefully inventoried and can be seen on display, exhibits cannot portray a world where Alibert's life unfolded. In Siberia he was not called Jean-Pierre but Ivan Petrovich. In Siberia, where he felt despair and ecstasy, there are still signs of his presence. Peak Botogol still has stone walls that were erected to protect the mine from hurricane winds. Here one can see a portion of the hippodrome on the mountain top and find large steel nails that used to hold together comfortable housing next to mounds of graphite.
By day, Ivan Petrovich personally sorted through graphite that was to be sent to A. W. Faber's factory. By night, living at the height of 2210 meters above the sea level, he studied the starry skies above the Sayans with astronomical instruments. It is just as difficult to get to Botogol today as it was back then, and the beauty of nature that beckoned Alibert has remained untouched. In the valley below Peak Botogol, shaggy yaks still roam as they did back then, and local villagers tell legends of a courageous and generous foreigner.
Alibert's story will be told through places that were important in his life. In England he learned the basics of commerce, in a Finnish town of Tavasutt (now Hammelinna) he became Merchant of the First Order, in St. Petersburg he founded a fur-trading business that tied him with Siberia and Irkutsk. Alibert gave many years of his life to the Sayan Mountains, following the valley of the Irkut River almost to the border with Mongolia. He shipped graphite down Siberian rivers to the Pacific and Indian oceans, to the Baltic Sea and Nuremberg. When he returned to France, Alibert remained nostalgic for the mountains. This nostalgia, as well as rheumatism, which he earned in severe Siberian conditions, led him to settle in the French province of Auvergne.
Present-day filming of historical sites of Alibert's life will be supplemented with illustrations that he had made himself during his lifetime. Most of the documentary will be focused on Alibert's Siberian experience.
The documentary will also address larger issues that are relevant today, such as international cooperation, openness, responsible and ethical business practices.
Elena Zommer, Baikalsk, Russia.
Alexander Vasilyev.
Alexander is a Siberian geologist and miner. He initiated the
reconstruction of Alibert's mine in the Sayan Mountains several
years ago and has organized several expeditions to the area. As an
interesting coincidence, a review of archival photographs revealed
Alexander's remarkable resemblance to Alibert.
Elena and Eduard Zommer.
Elena and Eduard are a husband and wife team from Irkutsk Region in
Siberia. Elena has a literary background, with several poetry books
in print. She has spent the last 3 years researching Alibert's life
through archives in St. Petersburg and Irkutsk. Eduard comes from a
long career in cinematography. He worked in Lenfilm, Russia's
premier studio, as well as in East-Siberian Studio for over 40
years. To date, Eduard has filmed over 30 documentaries, mostly
about Siberia.
Kirill Voloshin
and Tania
Lozansky.
Another husband and wife team, Kirill and Tania have worked on a
number of marketing and promotional projects with Russia's wild
protected areas. Group Kitti Louis with Kirill as a composer has made
music for this documentary. Tania has a background in business
development and has got her MBA at Stanford's Graduate School of
Business.
Last updated: September 22, 1999.