November 8, 2000

Re: Aleksandr Sokurov Project

The world is extremely fortunate to have Aleksandr Sokurov. His films are as moral as they are visual from Days of Eclipse to Mother and Son and Moloch, they’re proudly singular visions with nary a frame compromised. He is, at once,
a humanist philosopher in the vein of Tarkovsky and
a technical pioneer whose art is densely woven into the very filming process (via his own lenses and filters, or hand-painted film stock).

The world is, then, all the more fortunate to have Sokurov
to turn his lens towards the Hermitage. As the subject of Waterloo – Sokurov’s next experimental documentary –
the famed Russian museum will find a fitting testament to its grand and tragic story. Sokurov is planning Waterloo to be
an unprecedented one-take, feature-length journey through the world of the Hermitage, filled with both scripted spectacles and chance encounters.

A world-class collection of art, the Hermitage was thrust into dire conditions at the onset of the new Russian capitalism;
it is now impoverished and dependent on private funding. These, ironically, are the very same conditions in which Sokurov himself has to work. In the commercialized atmosphere of the current Russia, his films are financed by various groups of private investors, mostly foreign. I, for one, am privileged to he associated with Waterloo as an executive producer. I emphatically urge everyone who appreciates art and cinema to help fund this wonderful project. We will all
be richer for it.

Sincerely,

Martin Scorsese