RUSSIAN MEDIA TO VISIT ROCHESTER

Linkages and the City of Rochester will be hosting two or three crew members of Novgorod’s TV station in January 2010. Mayor Duffy received a letter several months ago requesting city approval for Rochester’s participation in a TV documentary planned on its sister city in the US. The station plans a series of hour long documentaries on each of Novgorod’s sister cities. The station plans to dispatch a TV crew to its sister cities in Europe, Asia and America to do assemble a profile of each city and to document the what life is like for its citizens. Paul Caccamise had a chance to discuss the project with Svetlana Yakovenko, Producer for Novgorod Television Company in September. She stated that the documentary on Rochester will be divided into four 15 minute segments, each one focusing in a different aspectto Novgorod of life in Rochester: the history of the city, modern Rochester, local cuisine and general life in the city.

The September delegation brought written material and brochures on Rochester and the Finger Lakes Region so that the crew can get a flavor for major attractions in the area. Linkages has offered to provide home hosting and to arrange for transportation for the crew. Linkages will also work with the City of Rochester to facilitate contacts with local organizations, companies, restaurants and historical sites to ensure that the crew gets a representative view of people and places in the area.