< Submissions call is open for ARCTIC OPEN IFF>
The 5th Arctic Countries Film Festival ARCTIC OPEN is open for submissions, director Tamara Statikova told TASS on Tuesday. In 2020, the festival had to reduce official due to COVID restrictions.
“We have announced our submissions call open. Unlike last year, when our official selection had to be put on hold, we took our chance this year and hope that everything will go according to plan,” said Statikova.
This year’s nominations are four – Best Feature Film, Best Documentary, Best Short Film, and Best Children’s and Youth Films, the latter being a special category. The festival welcomes films made in 2020/2021. The target countries include Russia, Canada, Denmark, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and USA, but, according to director Statikova, submissions from other countries are welcome too.
ARCTIC OPEN Programmer, Angelika Dolinina, adds that she and her team welcome films reflecting their makers’ vision of the modern day reality of the North. “When someone mentions ‘Arctic’, the association is with ice, polar bears, remote weather stations. But there’s so much more to it. Our task here is to see the sides of life that the filmmakers in the northern countries are concerned about,” Dolinina told TASS.
The Arctic countries share many similarities, but there’s diversity, too. These countries are homes to different nations, they have urban areas, protected areas, and difficult-to-access areas. “We want to see all sides of man’s life in the Arctic as a diverse dimension. How man feels about himself, how he survives, why he likes or dislikes the place he lives in,” Angelika Dolinina adds. “And his feelings for others. Love stories are welcome, too.”
The deadline for submissions is October 10. The festival will announce its official selection on October 25. Scheduled to take place on December 9-12, 2021 in Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, Novodvinsk, and some of the local municipalities, ARCTIC OPEN is going to show its winning films to more municipalities and other parts of Russia as part of its film marathon.
Workshops
This year’s festivals boast a diversity of workshops, supported by Arkhangelsk Governor Center. “It is a part of our mission as a film festival to promote film clubs and associations organized in different parts of Arkhangelsk Province to make cinematography more accessible to people of all ages,” said Statikova. “Arkhangelsk will be hosting a dedicated workshop called The Art of Moderating Movie Houses, that has its own selection for the participating films associations and is seen as a very important event.”
Other workshops to be delivered include Creating Interactive Installations, and Stage and Film Acting Specifics. “These two workshops are soon to announce their participants selection open,” adds Statikova.
In November, the festival’s partner Gostiny Dvor Museum (Arkhangelsk) will welcome The Feel of Painting, an exhibition from Novosibirsk for people with visual impairments. To help visitors experience the works of art, there will be audio descriptions, literary pieces and even odours. “The exhibits are the special copies of the paintings that can be touched and are accompanied by audio poems to convey their message and even odour created by professional perfumers,” said Statikova.
For visually impaired cinema goers, there will be a venue showing films with audio description.
The days of Arctic Open business program will bring together public figures, journalists, students, businesses and authorities to think of ways to promote development of northern areas. The festival will be hosting the III Arctic Documentary and Popular Science Film Idea Pitching, where amateur and professional filmmakers will present their film ideas to potential investors.
March 2022 will see ARCTIC OPEN host the area’s first ever inclusive studio of children’s animation films, organized in cooperation with SoyuzMultfilm.
About ARCTIC OPEN 2020
ARCTIC OPEN 2020 spanned December 4 to 6 and was hosted in Arkhangelsk. Held without official selection, ARCTIC OPEN 2020 had to move most of its programme online. The festival showed a total of 25 films made in four countries – Russia, Canada, Sweden and Denmark.
Source: IA TASS Russia
Special reporter: Irina Skalina
