< “A Great Ship Asks Deep Waters”: Arkhangelsk Welcomes 7th ARCTIC OPEN>
ARCTIC OPEN IFF rolled out its Blue Arctic Carpet for the seventh time, welcoming its guests with the traditional “ribbon breaking” ceremony to the drumbeat and warm applause of the audience. For the first time in Arctic Open’s history, its jury, filmmakers, producers, actors, and all involved in Arctic Open sessions walked down the Blue Carpet indoors. The ceremony had to be moved inside Arkhangelsk Drama Theater because of the severe cold spell.
Opening the 7th ARCTIC OPEN was the jazz performance Port Town Music by Sweet Hot Jazz Band and their frontman Vova Che Morale. During the festival days, the band will give two talks to music students in Arkhangelsk and Severodvinsk, where they’ll show in action jazz improvisation and accompaniment.
Film screenings started on December 7, Thursday at Mirage Cinema (Titan Arena Mall) and Rus Cinema.
This year’s ARCTIC OPEN has been joined by 130+ people from Russia, France, Turkey, Mexico, Uzbekistan, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Indonesia, China, and United Kingdom. Its Official Selection features 57 films and will be shown at seventeen venues in Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, Novodvinsk, Nyandoma, Severoonezhsk, and Konosha.
“A great ship asks deep waters. Bon voyage, my friends,” Arctic Open director Tamara Statikova greeted the audience.
The opening ceremony celebrated winners of the public IT quest Make Your Movie. Its Grand Prix – a Hus-Ski by POMOR – went to Eldar Maskhutdinov. Four more winning films received gifts from sponsors.
“Make Your Movie, an amateur filmmaking quest, ran between September and November. It produced a total of 22 films and had as jury the public. To rule out double voting, we used a special system that registered, over the two weeks of voting, 583 votes and five winning films,” said Ivan Ovsyankin, IT specialist, Make Your Movie quest developer.
Arctic Open 2023 chose to be its opener Ilya Zheltyakov’s documentary Last Motorship (Lenfilm Productions, 16+). A road movie, it follows the m/s Klavdia Elanskaya’s voyage along the coastal villages of the Kola Peninsula, showing the real life of northerners who chose to be the guardians of the home communities instead of moving to the continent for better life.
“Arctic Open IFF has become the hallmark of Arkhangelsk and its municipalities, emphasizing the role of this northern area as a cultural and training center in the Russian Arctic. Over the course of just few years, the festival has grown from a small project to a landmark cultural venue, which is always a long-awaited event for the audience and professional and amateur filmmakers. Also, it’s gratifying to know that alongside its core activities Arctic Open delivers an extensive training program. Despite the current geopolitical challenges, the festival continues to exist and evolve as an international venue. Art knows no borders,” said Ivan Dementiev, Deputy Chairman of Arkhangelsk Government.
ARCTIC OPEN will last until December 10. Ahead are screenings in Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, and Novodvinsk, some of which will be joined by the jury. The latter are expected to select winners in three basic categories – Best Feature, Best Short, and Best Documentary – as early as this Sunday. Judging the documentaries will also be the Media Jury, which consists of Arkhangelsk-based journalists and filmmakers.
ARCTIC OPEN IFF will have its closing ceremony on December 7, 7 p.m, at the Arkhangelsk Drama Theater. Admission is free. But before that, the festival will delight its audience with recently released series Iz Pomorov My, filmed in Arkhangelsk and the village of Lomonosovo this past summer. Its first episode will be presented to the people of Arkhangelsk by creative producer Dmitry Belavin and director Railya Karimova.
On Sunday, 2 p.m, at local TV & Radio Broadcasting Company POMORYE, the jury chairs will hold a press conference. On the same day at NArFU Scientific Library (1 Smolny Buyan, Assembly Hall), the participants of Arctic Heat training lab will present their films for public viewing.
As a reminder, the Arctic Heat Lab involves five students of Gerasimov State Institute of Cinematography Campus in Tashkent (Uzbekistan) and five cinematographers based in Arkhangelsk. Under the guidance of their masters Yusup Razykov and Yuri Mikhailishin, they are expected to produce a series of documentaries about the North in a course of just 10 days.
Please follow Arctic Open Schedule on: https://arctic-open.com/calendar2023/
KinoPort. ARCTIC OPEN is run by BEREGINYA Pomor Culture Foundation with support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, Pomor Governor Center, and Arkhangelsk Ministry of Culture.
The 7th ARCTIC OPEN IFF lists among the international film festivals registered with the Russian Ministry of Culture.
ARCTIC OPEN is co-organized by Northern (Arctic) Federal University.
