MINSK, 4 November (BelTA) – The 23rd edition of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad opens at the Moskva cinema house on 4 November, BelTA has learned.
The opening ceremony will begin at 17.30 in the Moskva cinema house. The opening night film is Petersburg. Only For love (Russia). These are seven stories about the special city created by seven Russian female directors.
Other cinema houses that will feature the films of the festival are Pioner, Pobeda and the Museum of History of Belarusian Cinema.
The Listapad program includes 159 films from 45 countries. 83 films will participate in the competitions: 11 in feature films, 12 in the Youth on the March, 8 in children's and youth movies, 12 in documentary films, 16 in national film schools and 24 in national competition.
Some Br335,000 was allocated from the national budget to finance the festival.
As part of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad 2016 the Belarusian capital will play host to three exhibitions related to cinematography: Janis Streics: Films, People, Epoch; Andrzej Wajda's Films on the World Film Poster, and Time of Silent Stars. From Black-and-White to Red.
The festival will also arrange a professional platform for the film industry representatives: directors, producers, scriptwriters, actors. They will discuss the problems of Belarusian cinema. Foreign experts have been invited to participate as well. This year guests from Sweden will do the educational pitching. This is a project called Matchmaking for Screenwriters when writers can submit their works to Belarusian directors and producers.
The out-of-competition program Lions, Bears, Golden Palms will treat cinema lovers to recent novelties, including the winners of the Cannes, Berlin and Venice film festivals: Fire at Sea (Fuocoammare), I, Daniel Blake, and The Woman Who Left.
The out-of-competition documentary program Postdoc invites viewers to engage in a dialogue with film directors about the role of facts and fiction in cinema and the nature of a documentary. The Minsk audience will see three documentaries that will make them reconsider their understanding of feature and non-feature cinema: Cafe Nagler by Mor Kaplansky, Land of the Enlightened by Peter-Jan de Pew and Lost and Beautiful by Pietro Marcello.
The 23rd Minsk International Film Festival will wrap up on 11 November with Afterimage by renowned Polish director Andrzej Wajda. The film was awarded the special jury prize at the National Festival of Polish Films in Gdynia (Poland), participated in the festivals in Toronto (Canada) and Busan (Republic of Korea). The Lіstapad 2016 closing ceremony will also be held at the Moskva cinema house.
The Listapad highest award is “Golden Listapad” (For the Best Film), followed by “Silver Listapad” award (Film as an Art Phenomenon given by International Press Jury). The third award of the Festival is “Bronze Listapad” (audience award for the Best Feature film). The Turov Award is awarded to the best film of the Youth on the March competition program.
The Golden Listapadzik winner will be named in the competition of films for children and youth audiences.
The 23rd edition of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad will be held under the motto “Towards Inspiration” on 4-11 November. The organizer is the center of visual and performing arts ART Corporation.
The festival has been organized by the Culture Ministry and Minsk City Hall with the participation of the Belarusian TV and Radio Company, National Film Studio Belarusfilm, and the Belarusian Union of Cinematographers.
