Films from 54 countries coming to Minsk
Listapad Directorate has chosen films for Minsk International Film Festival scheduled for November 20th-26th
This year, the festival’s organiser has changed and, due to this, a lot has been done from scratch. The number of competitive programmes, nominations and – accordingly – prizes has been cut. New Chairman Aleksandr Yefremov, a People's Artiste of Belarus, sadly admits that there will be no audience award this year. “This is actually the sincerest prize and I hope – over time – we will revive this nomination,” he says.
This year, not only Minskers will be able to watch festival films. “About 30 films have received permission for 2-5 screenings in regions. We have sent a proposal to film distributors so that they can prepare a Listapad programme,” Vladimir Karachevsky, the Director of Belarusfilm National Film Studio which acts as the festival’s organiser, comments.
Ninety-nine films from all over the world will be screened, including 13 as part of the main feature film competition. Seventeen films will take part in the main documentary film competition, including The Arrow by Belarusian director Galina Adamovich. In turn, Listapadzik will feature 14 films from Iran, Estonia, China, Russia and other countries. Stars of the Seventh Heaven by Yelena Turova will open the festival programme. In turn, 24 films from Azerbaijan, Vietnam, Nigeria, India, Tajikistan, France, Georgia, Switzerland and elsewhere have been selected for the youth film competition.
The out-of-competition programme consists of 31 films. The programme includes retrospectives of Victor Turov's movies, master classes, artistic meetings and round table discussions. Moreover, a live broadcast of the scheduled events is planned.
This year, the festival will be held under the Cinema is a Symphony of Unity slogan and Mr. Karachevsky explains, “We hope cinema will become a bridge to unite people from all over the world.”
Tickets will be available for purchase on November 12th.
