On April 2, an official press conference of 48th Moscow International Film Festival was hosted at the press center of the StandArt Hotel. The festival will take place in Moscow from April 16 to 23.
The press conference was attended by: Ivan Kudryavtsev, Program Director of the festival; Sergey Lavrentiev, film critic, film scholar and Chair of the Selection Board; and the Selection Board members: the film scholar Evgenia Tirdatova; the curators of the Free Thought program and the MIFF Documentary Film Competition Grigory Libergal and Sergey Miroshnichenko; the Short Film program curator Marina Ozerenchuk; and the Wild Nights program curator Egor Moskvitin.
The press conference announced the juries of the Main Competition, the Short Film Competition, and the Russian Premieres program. The press conference also announced the films selected for the Main Competition, the Documentary Film Competition, the Short Film Competition, and the Russian Premieres program. More details were further provided on out-of-competition programs and the opening film.
Ivan Kudryavtsev noted that this year’s program is strong and diverse: the festival features around 200 films, including 19 world and international premieres, with 96 Russian premieres. The 48th edition of Moscow International Film Festival brings together 43 countries (being the main countries where the participating films were made). According to him, the festival has received more than 1,500 submissions this year, with Russia, China, the Republic of Korea, India, and Italy being the leading countries in terms of the number of films. Among the countries not featured last year but included in this year’s program are Algeria, Israel, Mongolia, UAE, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, and Switzerland.
As its opening film, 48th Moscow International Film Festival will screen Alexander Kott’s war film the Angels of War, starring Tikhon Zhiznevsky, Roman Evdokimov, Ksenia Treister, Viktor Dobronravov, Polina Agureeva, Vadim Skvirsky, and Evgeny Sidikhin. This historical drama depicts the first months of the Siege of Leningrad: in November 1941, a group of young ice yachtsmen ventures onto the ice of Lake Ladoga, still quite weak, to deliver ammunition, but their mission turns into an operation to save orphans from an orphanage who were not evacuated.
The jury of the Main Competition of Moscow International Film Festival included the Russian director, screenwriter, and producer Ivan I. Tverdovsky, the Russian theater and film actress Darya Ekamasova, the Chinese actress and singer Jin Sha, the Turkish director, screenwriter and producer Mahmut Fazıl Coskun, and the Spanish director Javier Rebollo. Prasanna Vitanage (Sri Lanka), one of South Asia’s most prominent and influential filmmakers, became the jury chair.
Sergey Lavrentiev, Chair of the Selection Committee, noted that the Main Competition features films from 10 countries: Italy, Russia, Spain, Republic of Korea, Argentina, Mexico, Iran, Mongolia, China, and India. According to him, the program brings together films of various genres and tones.
Films of the Main Competition:
DOCUMENTARY FILM COMPETITION
The section’s curators, Grigory Libergal and Sergey Miroshnichenko, presented the documentary film competition and the Free Thought program.
The jury for the documentary film competition included the Chinese documentary filmmaker Pan Zhiqi and the Russian director, screenwriter, and producer Vladimir Golovnev. The Italian director, screenwriter and producer Daniele Cini became the chair of the jury.
Films of the Documentary Film Competition:
Introducing the Free Thought program, Sergey Miroshnichenko noted that this year marks its 20th anniversary:
The program will screen, among other screenings, the Eyes of Ghana, an American documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot, one of the most prominent documentary filmmakers of the recent years, a two-time Oscars winner. The film has already been acclaimed at international festivals in London, Toronto, and Chicago. The program will also feature Miroshnichenko’s own documentary project, Born in the USSR.
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Marina Ozerenchuk, the curator of the short film section, said that the jury of the short film competition would rate 10 films from Argentina, India, Russia, Serbia, China, and the Republic of Korea.
The jury for the short film competition included the Japanese director, screenwriter, and producer Masaki Inoue and the Russian theater and film actress Kristina Asmus. The acclaimed Greek director, actor, and translator Georgios Kimoulis became the jury chair.
Marina Ozerenchuk noted that the program featured many debut works. The emphasis is made on family and relationships with loved ones: parents, brothers, and sisters. The "anatomy of silence" principle, which builds on understatement, pauses, and the inner state of characters, underpins the design of the competition. These are films focused on feelings going inwards to emotions and personal experience.
Films of the Short Film Competition:
RUSSIAN PREMIERES COMPETITION
The jury of the Russian Premieres competition includes the director, producer and screenwriter Vladimir Kott, the theater and film actress Anna Banshchikova, and the Russian director, screenwriter and producer Anton Maslov.
Films of the Russian Premieres Competition:
Evgenia Tirdatova spoke about this year’s out-of-competition programs, noting that they are quite diverse: there is something for any spectator. The program includes both new sections, such as the Apocalypse Now and the Roots, and the sections the audience already knows, which gain new features every year.
In particular, this year’s festival will feature the out-of-competition programs: the Artcore program, which will feature films at the intersection of cinema and contemporary art, the Home Where… — stories about home and personal space; the Eros and Thanatos — films exploring the border between love and destruction, life and death; the Adolescence — films about coming of age and soul-searching; the Far, Far Away — stories about escaping from everyday life into a world of adventure and trials, the Apocalypse Now — reflections on anxieties and crises of the modern world and "end of the world" notions, Little People. Big Stories — about the fates of ordinary people amid major events, the Boiling Points — films about internal tension and extreme states, the Animation Universe — a program of contemporary animation from around the world.
The following retrospective programs will also be presented: the Unknown Works of the Known Masters: From the Vaults of Gosfilmofond Archive — rare and lesser-known works by master filmmakers; the Screen Wars. Episode Seven. The Color Awakens — on how color developed in cinema; the Sixties: 60 Years Later — a look back at the 1960s, the Roots — a program on cinema as art, and the Restored Classics program.
Egor Moskvitin provided further details about the out-of-competition genre-based program the Wild Nights, which features horror films and thrillers from around the world. Among others, it will screen the Foreigner (Iran, Canada) — a story of a girl facing bullying at school and an identity crisis; the Cat in a Mousetrap — a mystical story with werewolves; the Japanese horror film the Curse set in the world of AI and social media; the French film Leak; the Toy, a story of a kidnapped girl; the Obsession about abusive relationships; and the Mexican stop-motion animation I Am Frankelda about a ghostwriter. According to Moskvitin, the program turned out to be very diverse in tone: it features not only scary films, but also ironic, unusual stories of diverse genres.
Russian Copper Company is an official partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival.
Mercury Jewelry Company is an official partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival. Mercury crafted the main prizes of the Festival: the figurines of Saint George riding a silver horse and slaying a dragon with a spear. The Golden Saint George figurine is made of gilded silver, and the Silver Saint George is crafted from silver.
VOYAH premium electric and hybrid cars is an official partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival.
MAER Media Holding is the communication partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival.
The press conference was attended by: Ivan Kudryavtsev, Program Director of the festival; Sergey Lavrentiev, film critic, film scholar and Chair of the Selection Board; and the Selection Board members: the film scholar Evgenia Tirdatova; the curators of the Free Thought program and the MIFF Documentary Film Competition Grigory Libergal and Sergey Miroshnichenko; the Short Film program curator Marina Ozerenchuk; and the Wild Nights program curator Egor Moskvitin.
The press conference announced the juries of the Main Competition, the Short Film Competition, and the Russian Premieres program. The press conference also announced the films selected for the Main Competition, the Documentary Film Competition, the Short Film Competition, and the Russian Premieres program. More details were further provided on out-of-competition programs and the opening film.
Ivan Kudryavtsev noted that this year’s program is strong and diverse: the festival features around 200 films, including 19 world and international premieres, with 96 Russian premieres. The 48th edition of Moscow International Film Festival brings together 43 countries (being the main countries where the participating films were made). According to him, the festival has received more than 1,500 submissions this year, with Russia, China, the Republic of Korea, India, and Italy being the leading countries in terms of the number of films. Among the countries not featured last year but included in this year’s program are Algeria, Israel, Mongolia, UAE, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tunisia, and Switzerland.
As its opening film, 48th Moscow International Film Festival will screen Alexander Kott’s war film the Angels of War, starring Tikhon Zhiznevsky, Roman Evdokimov, Ksenia Treister, Viktor Dobronravov, Polina Agureeva, Vadim Skvirsky, and Evgeny Sidikhin. This historical drama depicts the first months of the Siege of Leningrad: in November 1941, a group of young ice yachtsmen ventures onto the ice of Lake Ladoga, still quite weak, to deliver ammunition, but their mission turns into an operation to save orphans from an orphanage who were not evacuated.
The jury of the Main Competition of Moscow International Film Festival included the Russian director, screenwriter, and producer Ivan I. Tverdovsky, the Russian theater and film actress Darya Ekamasova, the Chinese actress and singer Jin Sha, the Turkish director, screenwriter and producer Mahmut Fazıl Coskun, and the Spanish director Javier Rebollo. Prasanna Vitanage (Sri Lanka), one of South Asia’s most prominent and influential filmmakers, became the jury chair.
Sergey Lavrentiev, Chair of the Selection Committee, noted that the Main Competition features films from 10 countries: Italy, Russia, Spain, Republic of Korea, Argentina, Mexico, Iran, Mongolia, China, and India. According to him, the program brings together films of various genres and tones.
Films of the Main Competition:
- Anna Magnani – The Untold Story, director: Monica Guerritore (Italy)
- Vygotsky, director: Anton Bilzho (Russia)
- The Redemption, director: Daniel Guzmán (Spain)
- Winter Light, director: Cho Hyun-suh (Republic of Korea)
- Oca, director: Karla Badillo (Argentina, Mexico)
- Cowgirl, director: Cristina Fernandez Pintado, Miguel Llorens (Spain)
- The Sky Is the Same Color Everywhere, director: Hamidreza Ghasemi (Iran)
- The Unopened Letter, director: Batdelger Byambasuren (Mongolia)
- The Father, director: Pavel Ivanov (Russia)
- The Last Summer, director: Shi Renfei (China)
- RIP, director: Alessandro D'Ambrosi, Santa De Santis (Italy)
- Journey There, director: Kim Jin-yu (Republic of Korea)
- Desire, director: Fazik Razak (India)
DOCUMENTARY FILM COMPETITION
The section’s curators, Grigory Libergal and Sergey Miroshnichenko, presented the documentary film competition and the Free Thought program.
The jury for the documentary film competition included the Chinese documentary filmmaker Pan Zhiqi and the Russian director, screenwriter, and producer Vladimir Golovnev. The Italian director, screenwriter and producer Daniele Cini became the chair of the jury.
Films of the Documentary Film Competition:
- In the Sea of Strange Thoughts, director: CHOI Jeong-dan (Republic of Korea);
- Coming Home, director: Daniel Golding, J. Mitchell Johnson (USA)
- A Long Way Home, director: Zheng Xusong (China);
- Mashenka, director: Valeriya Gai Germanika (Russia);
- My Benjamin, director: Victoria Clay-Mendoza (Mexico, France);
- Museum, director: Marina Mariya Ovchinnikova (Russia);
- Amazon Opera, director: Bruno Jorge (Brazil);
- Borderland, director: Vladislav Rytkov (Russia);
- Russian Chelsea, director: Aleksey Zharkov (Russia, Great Britain)
Introducing the Free Thought program, Sergey Miroshnichenko noted that this year marks its 20th anniversary:
The program will screen, among other screenings, the Eyes of Ghana, an American documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot, one of the most prominent documentary filmmakers of the recent years, a two-time Oscars winner. The film has already been acclaimed at international festivals in London, Toronto, and Chicago. The program will also feature Miroshnichenko’s own documentary project, Born in the USSR.
SHORT FILM COMPETITION
Marina Ozerenchuk, the curator of the short film section, said that the jury of the short film competition would rate 10 films from Argentina, India, Russia, Serbia, China, and the Republic of Korea.
The jury for the short film competition included the Japanese director, screenwriter, and producer Masaki Inoue and the Russian theater and film actress Kristina Asmus. The acclaimed Greek director, actor, and translator Georgios Kimoulis became the jury chair.
Marina Ozerenchuk noted that the program featured many debut works. The emphasis is made on family and relationships with loved ones: parents, brothers, and sisters. The "anatomy of silence" principle, which builds on understatement, pauses, and the inner state of characters, underpins the design of the competition. These are films focused on feelings going inwards to emotions and personal experience.
Films of the Short Film Competition:
- The Library, director: Gaspar Werthein (Argentina)
- Vasu, director: Sidharth Harikumar (India)
- Dortmund Shadows over Mordovia, director: Ivan Vetoshkin (Russia)
- Kernel, director: Andrey Krechetov (Serbia, Russia)
- Eternal Love, director: Hao Zheng (China)
- Mom, director: Ivan Sosnin (Russia)
- Nowhere, Somewhere, director: Hueilin An (Republic of Korea)
- Peer Gynt, director: Elizaveta Pezenskaya (Russia)
- Three, director: Juan Ignacio Ceballos (Argentina)
- Good Children Keep Silent, director: Maksim Moshkov (Russia)
RUSSIAN PREMIERES COMPETITION
The jury of the Russian Premieres competition includes the director, producer and screenwriter Vladimir Kott, the theater and film actress Anna Banshchikova, and the Russian director, screenwriter and producer Anton Maslov.
Films of the Russian Premieres Competition:
- Another World, director: Nikolay Kovalenko;
- Red Ghost 1812, director: Andrey Bogatyrev;
- At the Edge of the World, director: Eduard Novikov;
- Songs of the Djinns, director: Roman Mikhailov;
- The Temperature of the Universe, director: Viktor Shamirov;
- Little Taleteller, director: Ksenia Zueva;
- Shurale, director: Alina Nasibullina.
Evgenia Tirdatova spoke about this year’s out-of-competition programs, noting that they are quite diverse: there is something for any spectator. The program includes both new sections, such as the Apocalypse Now and the Roots, and the sections the audience already knows, which gain new features every year.
In particular, this year’s festival will feature the out-of-competition programs: the Artcore program, which will feature films at the intersection of cinema and contemporary art, the Home Where… — stories about home and personal space; the Eros and Thanatos — films exploring the border between love and destruction, life and death; the Adolescence — films about coming of age and soul-searching; the Far, Far Away — stories about escaping from everyday life into a world of adventure and trials, the Apocalypse Now — reflections on anxieties and crises of the modern world and "end of the world" notions, Little People. Big Stories — about the fates of ordinary people amid major events, the Boiling Points — films about internal tension and extreme states, the Animation Universe — a program of contemporary animation from around the world.
The following retrospective programs will also be presented: the Unknown Works of the Known Masters: From the Vaults of Gosfilmofond Archive — rare and lesser-known works by master filmmakers; the Screen Wars. Episode Seven. The Color Awakens — on how color developed in cinema; the Sixties: 60 Years Later — a look back at the 1960s, the Roots — a program on cinema as art, and the Restored Classics program.
Egor Moskvitin provided further details about the out-of-competition genre-based program the Wild Nights, which features horror films and thrillers from around the world. Among others, it will screen the Foreigner (Iran, Canada) — a story of a girl facing bullying at school and an identity crisis; the Cat in a Mousetrap — a mystical story with werewolves; the Japanese horror film the Curse set in the world of AI and social media; the French film Leak; the Toy, a story of a kidnapped girl; the Obsession about abusive relationships; and the Mexican stop-motion animation I Am Frankelda about a ghostwriter. According to Moskvitin, the program turned out to be very diverse in tone: it features not only scary films, but also ironic, unusual stories of diverse genres.
Russian Copper Company is an official partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival.
Mercury Jewelry Company is an official partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival. Mercury crafted the main prizes of the Festival: the figurines of Saint George riding a silver horse and slaying a dragon with a spear. The Golden Saint George figurine is made of gilded silver, and the Silver Saint George is crafted from silver.
VOYAH premium electric and hybrid cars is an official partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival.
MAER Media Holding is the communication partner of 48th Moscow International Film Festival.