On June 30, the XX International Festival of Cinema, Music and Architecture "Zerkalo. Tarkovsky's Philosophy". The main prize was awarded to the British film "The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford" by Sean Dunn.
For two decades, the festival "Mirror. Tarkovsky's Philosophy" has become one of the main Russian platforms for auteur cinema, annually opening the best films from around the world to the audience. The XX Festival once again confirmed this status, bringing together recognized masters and young directors, international premieres and the best Russian films. At the same time, Zerkalo remains a truly spectator festival: over five days, its guests not only saw a rich film program, but also took part in discussions, creative meetings, exhibitions and special events.
In just five festival days, more than 80 screenings of films from different countries took place, which were attended by over 13 thousand spectators. The host of the closing ceremony was the editor-in-chief of the program "Cinema in Detail" Nadezhda Koroleva. She recalled that the film festival was held this year in eight cities of the Ivanovo region - Ivanovo, Shuya, Kineshma, Palekh, Rodniki, Vichuga, Puchezh and Kokhma, and the opening took place in the city of Tarkovsky's childhood Yuryevets. The program included competitive and out-of-competition screenings, an exhibition dedicated to Marina Tarkovskaya in the art space of the railway station, retrospectives for the 120th anniversary of Alexander Rou and the 250th anniversary of the Bolshoi Theater, the ROSIZO project "Attraction of Space", inspired by the film "Solaris", as well as creative meetings, book presentations and special events.
Eight films created with the participation of ten countries participated in the main competition of the anniversary festival: Algeria, Great Britain, Iran, Spain, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, USA, Turkey and France. The program includes the films "Without Permission" by Hassan Nazer, "Mergen" by Chingiz Narynov, "Dead Souls" by Alex Cox, "Dead Dogs Don't Bite" by Nuri Cihan Ozdogan, "The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford" by Sean Dunn, "Empty Spaces" by Nikita Miklushov, "Haron" by Akim Salbiyev and "Chronicles of the Siege" by Abdallah Al-Khatib.
The films in the competition program were evaluated by an international jury, which included Iranian actor, editor and producer Babak Karimi, program director of the Seoul Cinematheque Kim Sung-wook, Russian actress Sofia Lebedeva, Italian film producer, director, festival organizer, distributor of Russian films in Italy Rino Sharetta and Russian director Alexei German Jr.
The "Svoi" program featured 14 films that have already been shown and awarded prizes at Russian and international reviews. The program "Svoi. Short Films", which includes 18 iconic Russian short films.
The closing ceremony began with the presentation of audience prizes. The first to be announced was the winner of the program "Svoi. Short Film", which was determined by the audience of the festival based on the results of voting. It was the film by Nafisa Gavryuchina "Acquired Deafness".
"First of all, I want to say about the films of the Zerkalo festival. They are very different, but they have one thing in common: after watching the screening, you leave the hall as a slightly different person. It seems to me that this is the most important thing for which films are made in general. If we talk about my film, then the main thing for me was the opportunity to work with teenagers with varying degrees of hearing impairment. This experience turned out to be incredibly valuable. They bring a sincerity and depth to the material that is difficult to achieve otherwise. Therefore, I want to wish my colleagues not to be afraid to experiment with actors and open up to such experience more often," the director shared.
Traditionally, the Zerkalo Festival awards the Ivanovo Cinema Club Prize "Screen and You". It is awarded by the keepers of the traditions of auteur cinema - the organizers and regular participants of modern cinema clubs in Ivanovo, as well as long-term spectators of the festival.
This year, the winner of the Ivanovo Cinema Club Prize "Screen and You" was Anton Bilzho's film "Vygotsky". In the full-length program "Svoi", the sympathies of the audience were on the side of Ivan Shkundov's film "Adult Son".
«Thanks to the festival "Zerkalo" and a special thank you to the audience of the Ivanovo region. For me, cinema is always a dialogue. And thank you for the fact that this dialogue happened, "said the director of the film.
In the anniversary year, the audience voting of the main international competition ended with an unusual result: two films received the same number of votes at once. The winners were "Without Permission" by Hassan Nazer (Iran-UK) and "Dead Souls" by Alex Cox (USA-Spain).
Receiving the award, Hassan Nazer admitted that the victory was a surprise for him: "To receive the audience prize is always honorable, because it means that you were able to establish contact with the audience, with the audience. Thank you for this choice," the director said.
The award for the film "Dead Souls" on behalf of director Alex Cox was received by the film's producer Merritt Crocker: "For Alex Cox, this is a very important victory. Thanks to the Zerkalo festival and everyone who helped the film meet the audience."
After the presentation of the audience awards, the winners of the international competition were announced. The Special Jury Prize with the wording "As a dedication to ordinary people around the world at the time of world conflicts" was awarded to the film "Chronicles of the Siege", directed by Abdallah Al-Khatib (Algeria-France-Qatar).
The prize for best director was awarded to Nuri Cihan Ozdogan, "Dead Dogs Don't Bite" (Turkey). "For me, this is the first feature film, and I am very pleased to receive this award. Thanks to my entire film crew. And special thanks to the Zerkalo festival and Ivanov for such warm hospitality!" Cihan Ozdogan thanked Nuri for the award.
The main prize of the international competition was awarded by the jury to the British film "The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford", directed by Sean Dunn. The film tells the story of an elderly guide from the Scottish countryside, whose measured world begins to crumble when his hometown becomes the filming location for a popular fantasy series that overshadows local history and traditions.
After presenting all the awards, the host of the ceremony, Nadezhda Koroleva, announced the XX International Festival of Cinema, Music and Architecture "Mirror. Tarkovsky's Philosophy" closed.
Within the framework of the festival, the winners of the V All-Russian Video Art Competition "Worlds of Tarkovsky", organized by the State Museum and Exhibition Center "ROSIZO" together with the festival "Mirror. Tarkovsky's Philosophy" and the International Film Festival of Short and Debut Films "Koroche". The winners were determined by a professional jury, which included Ivan Lykoshin, Director of the Department of Museums and Support of Circus Arts of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, Georgy Moskvichev, General Director of ROSIZO, Olga Galaktionova, General Director of the Tretyakov Gallery, Anton Malyshev, Head of the Department of Distribution and Marketing of the Production Faculty of VGIK, Dmitry Davidenko, Head of the Educational and Creative Workshop of the Film Studies Department of VGIK, Dean of the Faculty of Creative Industries Dmitry Kotov and Anton Kalinkin, General Director of Red Carpet Studio.
The winners of the competition were: in the nomination "Philosophy" - Viktor Shiroglazov ("Anamnesis"); in the nomination "Childhood" - Ksenia Chernomor ("Book of Monologues"); in the nomination "Nostalgia" - Elena Laur ("The Mighty Lion"); in the nomination "Space" - Oleg Ostimuk ("Afanasy Fet - "Not to Them, Lord, Mighty, Incomprehensible"); Elena Kuzovleva (Tram Bridge) in the Landscape category; in the nomination "Dream" — Natalia Tarkovskaya ("And I Dreamed About It..."); in the nomination "Love" — Alexei Grechushkin and Polina Turi ("archetypes — "I don't see").
The International Festival of Cinema, Music and Architecture "Zerkalo. Tarkovsky's Philosophy" is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Ivanovo Region.
Prizes of the XX International Festival "Zerkalo":
Grand Prix of the Festival
"The Fall of Sir Douglas Weatherford", dir. Sean Dunn, United Kingdom;
Best Director
: Nuri Cihan Ozdogan, "Dead Dogs Don't Bite", Turkey;
Special Jury Prize as a dedication to ordinary people around the world at the time of world conflicts
"Chronicles of the Siege", dir. Abdallah Al-Khatib, Algeria-France-Qatar;
"The Main Competition is the Audience's Choice"
"Without Permission", dir. Hassan Nazer, Iran-United Kingdom;
Dead Souls, dir. Alex Cox, USA-Spain;
"The program "Svoi" is the choice of the audience" "
Adult Son", dir. Ivan Shkundov;
"The program "Svoi. Short Film" – the Audience's Choice" "
Acquired Deafness", dir. Nafisa Gavryuchina;
Ivanovo Cinema Club Prize "Screen and You"
"Vygotsky", dir. Anton Bilzho.
К юбилейному фестивалю была подготовлена специальная сувенирная продукция, созданная совместно с региональными культурными и креативными проектами — Музеем города Юрьевца, текстильным предприятием «Шуйские ситцы», ивановским ювелирным брендом Shu-Sha. Вместе с ними были созданы коллекции одежды и сувениров, серия открыток, а также лимитированная коллекция украшений, вдохновленная творческим наследием Андрея Тарковского. Совместно с издательством БОМБОРА выпущена фотокнига «Лица фестиваля “Зеркало”», рассказывающая в фотографиях 20-летнюю историю фестиваля.
