< 8th International Film Festival ARCTIC OPEN Given Start in Arkhangelsk>
M.V. Lomonosov Drama Theater witnessed the start of the 8th ARCTIC OPEN IFF, given by invited guest Alexander Oleshko in the official “icy ribbon breaking” ceremony.
Walking on the Arctic Carpet were the jury, cinematographers, actors, producers, composers and other members of the film crews from Russia, Iran, India, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, followed by the contestants of the “Make Your Movie” Quest, and the festival organizers.
“ARCTIC OPEN has become a tradition and a part of our cultural agenda. It is to some extent a part of our cultural code here in the North. What started as a proposal from a group of fellow-thinkers – a non-profit organization – has evolved into a landmark venue. To date, the festival continues to receive support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives. We, on our part, continue to provide it with the funds from the area’s budget: the festival is seen by the government of Arkhangelsk as where independent filmmakers can meet viewers and present their quality films,” said Ivan Dementiev, Deputy Chairman of Arkhangelsk Government, in his welcome address.
Ivan Dementiev also highlighted the importance of the festival’s agenda. With an increased array of workshops and awareness raising activities, its thematic content focuses on family and this year features one more category – popular science films.
The opening ceremony started with awarding the winners of the contest “Make Your Movie: The Family of the North”. Contestants from Arkhangelsk, Verkhnaya Toyma, Onega, Nyandoma, Novodvinsk, Kaliningrad, Saint-Petersburg, Novosibirsk and the Altai Republic were tasked with making videos about their family. The winners were selected by public vote and special jury consisting of professional filmmakers, in parallel. The top prize went to Arina Sharkova and her film about her grandmother. Five more films received gifts from the Arctic Open’s sponsors and partners.
“Together with you, our dear viewers, we have entered our eighth year. This is a public festival and it deserves to be called so. It is an international, public festival that opens up the Arctic to the people, hence its name, ARCTIC OPEN. Actually, this year we started even earlier: on December 2 our longest-standing program “Big Cinema to Smaller Screens” opened its doors in four municipalities of Arkhangelsk Province – Ustyany, Nyandoma, Kotlas, and Kargopol. It was there that this year’s films and their makers went first. Let me wish our big liner a good journey across the big and small islands of the Russian North,” said Tamara Statikova, ARCTIC OPEN IFF Executive Director.
Another line of awards went to the winners of the Russian Arctic Children’s Animation Studio Pitching, a contest held as part of the festival’s workshops program. Competing in it were a total of thirteen studios based in Arkhangelsk, Severodvinsk, municipalities of Arkhangelsk Province, Republic of Karelia, Murmansk, Krasnoyarsk, and Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area.
The Grand Prix went to the animated film The Mouse And The Bullfinch by Ksenia Noskova from Novy Urengoy, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area.
This year’s Official Selection features 70 films from 17 countries. The jury, consisting of cinematographers, actors, and producers from Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Iran, and Sweden, will be watching and judging the films together with the audience. The categories are five: feature films, live action short films, documentary films, children’s films, and, for the first time this year, popular science films.
The chair of the feature films jury, Alexey German, Jr., will join the festival on December 6.
This year’s cultural immersion program offers two venues. One opens on December 6 in the Arkhangelsk Museum of Fine Arts and features “Lydia Vertinskaya: Graphic Art”, a project run by Actors Charity Foundation in partnership with the National Copyright Holders Support Fund.
The chair of the feature films jury, Alexey German, Jr., will join the festival on December 6.
This year’s cultural immersion program offers two venues. One opens on December 6 in the Arkhangelsk Museum of Fine Arts and features “Lydia Vertinskaya: Graphic Art”, a project run by Actors Charity Foundation in partnership with the National Copyright Holders Support Fund.
