The film "Gelya" opened the Window to Europe Film Festival in Vyborg

Window to Europe, one of the oldest and most prestigious film festivals in Russia, has started in Vyborg. During the week, guests of the event will be able to see the classics of Russian cinema, as well as novelties, including the crime comedy "Gel" directed by Stas Ivanov.

As part of the festival, actors such as Fyodor Dobronravov, Angelina Strechina and Oleg Malovichko, who also headed the jury, took to the red carpet. The poster features the film "It was the Month of May" by Marlen Khutsiev, who became one of the founding fathers of the Window to Europe. The war drama will be shown in a special program dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory.

"These are outstanding figures, each of whom is connected with the war, connected with victory. It seems to me that these three events, two of which are cinematic and one is universal, may well be compatible," said Sergey Ursulyak, president of the festival.

The main competition "Windows to Europe" demonstrates the traditional combination of genre and content diversity. The best representatives of Russian auteur cinema will compete for the main prize, including Yulia Trofimova with the film "Bolshaya Zemlya", Tina Barclay with the film "Pearl", Ilya Khotinenko and Vladimir Karabanov with the drama "Scarecrow".

The film "Gel" was also presented in the competition and opened the festival. The director came up with a script on his own and kept it for another 10 years.

"The real prototype of the Sledge hero was hijacked by a Landwagen. We thought for a long time that Gel, Gel was the idea, as if it seemed boring to us, and I decided to make this car a girl," Ivanov said.

The film was shot with the direct participation of the REN TV channel, its distributor is NMG Kinoprokat (part of the National Media Group holding). "Gelya" tells the story of an exemplary family man performed by Ilya Malakov, who earns money by stealing stolen cars. and one day he doesn't check the contents of the trunk.

Russian Russian guy, I was making a Russian guy, simple, easy. I think he can be called a professional in the sense of life, he lives professionally, everything else is according to the situation where there is such a Russian maybe. It's about my Sanya. As it goes, maybe we'll slip through," Malakov shared.

Actress Daria Melnikova, who played the main character's wife in the film, suggested that her character is ready for any situation with such a husband.

A police officer, played by Anton Vasiliev, suggests that the main character make a deal to find out the identity of the customer. So, they're both heading to Vyborg.

"This place is special to me. I don't know why this happened, but I came here many times when I was still an ordinary member of the film crew. I thought that one day I would come to myself with my film," Ivanov shared.

Where's my car, Vyborg: Gel opened the Window to Europe Film Festival

The adventurous comedy about the pink "Hyundai" claims to be a hit

Earlier, on May 28, the Ol Media Company film company (part of the START group of companies), together with the online cinema START, the REN TV channel and 74 Film Studio, presented a poster and trailer for the comedy Gel. The film's producer, Georgy Shabanov, emphasized that the director has a great feel for the genre of crime comedies and knows how to work in it.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.