The XVIII International Film Festival «Russian Abroad» will be held on November 7-14, 2024 in Moscow, as well as online. This year's festival program will feature more than 50 fiction and non-fiction films dedicated to understanding the history of Russia in the twentieth century, the spiritual, cultural and scientific heritage of the Russian world. Thematic events and exhibitions will take place.
The jury of the competition of non-fiction films this year will be headed by Svetlana Bychenko (Russia), film director, screenwriter, producer, winner of the highest awards of international film festivals. The jury will also include film director, screenwriter, producer, TV presenter of Belteleradiocompany Sergey Katyer (Belarus) and film director, screenwriter, producer Dmitry Liu (China).
Chairman of the jury of the feature film competition — popular theater and cinema actor, author and singer Alexander Mikhailov (Russia), jury members — choreographer, founder of the ensemble of Russian folk stage dance «Rusichi», public figure Alexander Ilyin (Australia) and chairman of the charity association «Around Russia», public figure Kira Rusty (France).
Alexander Ilyin (Australia) and Kira Rusty (France).
The competition of feature films included films telling about the history of «death camp» Auschwitz, about the creators of domestic martial arts — Sambo, about how art can overcome illnesses, as well as a multi-part detective film, the events of which touch on the life of the Orthodox Old Believer community in Argentina.
The rich program of non-fiction films includes works by famous masters of contemporary documentary cinema: Natalia Gugueva, Sergei Debizhev, Marina Trush, Igor Kholodkov and other directors. The films familiarize with the circumstances of life of compatriots in different countries and tell about what motivates people born abroad to return to their ancestral homeland — to Russia.
A number of paintings will be shown to commemorate the 120th anniversary of the beginning of the Russo-Japanese War, the 110th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Society of Russian Veterans of the Great War in San Francisco, the birth anniversaries of philosopher Nikolai Berdyaev, painters Ilya Repin and Alexei Bogolyubov, director Vsevolod Meyerhold, writers Anastasia Tsvetaeva and Vladimir Nabokov.
«Our eminent emigrant compatriot, engineer Alexander Poniatov, whose inventions in the middle of the last century marked the beginning of the video era, said: "Life is meaningless without a contribution in favor of humanity". I wish these words could become the motto of those who will come to make art tomorrow, too cinema. And our festival, to the best of its ability, will continue to serve that cinematography, which does not call to enjoy, does not savor vice, does not drown, in the Hollywood way, for the needs of the time, in lies» — says the president of the International Film Festival «Russian Abroad» film director Sergei Zaitsev.
The forum includes a program of films by Russian and foreign authors telling about a special military operation conducted by Russia on the western borders of the country.
The forum includes a program of films by Russian and foreign authors telling about the special military operation conducted by Russia on the country's western borders.
The forum events will include meetings with Andrei Musin-Pushkin (France), chairman of the international Association of the Musin-Pushkin family, public figure Natalia Zaika (Australia), honorary consul of Russia in Rio Grande do Sul Jacinto Anatoly Zabolotsky (Brazil).
The Mikhail Chekhov 2024 Medal will be presented during the opening ceremony of the festival. The award was established by the Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad and the film studio «Russian Way» and has been awarded since 2008 to prominent cultural figures from different countries «for outstanding achievements in the field of cinematography and theater art». The name of the new winner of the medal will be announced during the awarding ceremony.
The detailed program of the forum is published on the official Internet resources of the festival. Entrance to movie screenings, thematic events and exhibitions is free. Online broadcasts of the ceremonies and evenings are planned. Most of the films will be presented on the Forum website according to the schedule of screenings.
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Cinema Forum was established in 2007. Founders: Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad and the film studio «Russian Way» with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, the Moscow City Government, Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Rossotrudnichestvo, the Moscow City Duma, the Russian Abroad Heritage Foundation. The forum is aimed at popularization of Russian culture and consolidation of the Russian world.
Over the years more than 650 feature and documentary films dedicated to the history of Russia of the twentieth century and the Russian Abroad have been presented to the audience. Venue: Alexander Solzhenitsyn House of Russian Abroad, 2, Nizhnyaya Radishchevskaya St. (Taganskaya — ring) and online at the official website of the festival. For the media on November 7 at 17.00 there will be a press conference dedicated to the opening of the XVIII IFF «Russian Abroad». It will be attended by organizers, jury members, guests from Russia and abroad. At the solemn ceremony Trustees and guests of honor are also invited to the opening of the festival. The beginning of the opening ceremony of the festival at 19.00 hours. EVCS Communication Service/Patriarchy.ru
