The Third festival of young cinema "New Movement" opened in Veliky Novgorod

On May 28, the opening ceremony of the Third Festival of Young Cinema "New Movement" took place at the Novgorod Regional Philharmonic named after A.S. Arensky.

Traditionally, star guests, festival participants and cinematographers walked the red carpet. Among them are Artyom Mikhalkov, Maxim Korolev, Trifon Bebutov, Anna Mikhalkova, Svetlana Bondarchuk, Elena Nikolaeva, Ilona Gaishun, Nadezhda Koroleva, Olga Zhuravleva, Nelly Uvarova, Maxim Dobromyslov, Anastasia Krasovskaya, Vsevolod Kaptur, Ivan Sosnin, Aram Vardevanyan, Sergey Kharchenko, Fedor Kravchuk, Natalia Fenkina, Tina Stoilkovich, Fedor Fedotov, Svetlana Kolpakova, Denis Kosikov, Diana Milutina, Anna Savranskaya, Vladimir Konukhin, Denis Tulumjan, Yuri Korobeynikov, Ilya Malanig, Ekaterina Rayskaya, Victoria Shishkova and others.

The ceremony was hosted by actors Tina Stoilkovich and Fedor Fedotov. The end—to-end theme of the opening ceremony was the dialogue between the artist and cinema, from the avant-garde manifestos of the early 20th century to today's artistic searches for young directors. Through quotes from Kazimir Malevich, Dziga Vertov, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Lev Kuleshov, Vladimir Mayakovsky and Alexander Rodchenko, the ceremony's hosts addressed the moment when cinema was only conceptualizing itself as a new art capable of combining light, movement, image, technology and human experience.

The musical accompaniment of the ceremony was provided by Iskandeor Khannanov and the Ensemble chamber group. The visual concept of the ceremony and the festival was developed by artist and designer Konstantin Chirkov. It is based on the arrow as a symbol of movement, development and support, as well as the image of a man with balloons, a metaphor for the author, whose ideas gain strength through the festival.

This image was continued on stage — Maxim Korolev and Artem Mikhalkov, the general producers of the festival, appeared in front of the audience with bundles of balloons in their hands.

"We've been planning to come here for literally a year, and finally we met again at the opening of the third New Movement Festival," said Artem Mikhalkov. — It is very important that we are growing, that there are more films, more new names, and it is very important that Veliky Novgorod unites us all. This growth is really becoming an important part of the cultural code of the festival." He also stressed that the festival continues to develop thanks to the support of its partners.

"I would like to introduce the new program director of the festival, Trifon Bebutov! And I would like to thank the Ministry of Culture and Olga Lyubimova personally for their help in organizing, as well as the Novgorod Region and the governor personally — it would have been impossible to hold the festival without this support," Maxim Korolev added.

Then Alexander Dronov, Governor of the Novgorod Region, also took the stage: "We are once again meeting talented actors and directors from all over the country. This is very cool, because youth is energy, an honest, uncluttered view of life. This is a forward movement! In three years, the festival has become an important part of the life of Novgorodians and a notable event in Russian cinema. I thank the organizers for coming up with the "New Movement", for helping young talents realize their dreams and promote their films. We will definitely support you! Happy holidays, friends, with the opening of the festival."

Alexander Dronov, Maxim Korolev and Artem Mikhalkov have officially declared the festival open.

After that, according to the established tradition, the prize "The best young producer in Russia" was awarded. This prize was established by the Organizing Committee of the festival to celebrate the contribution of young producers to the future of our cinema. This time, Katerina Mikhailova received the award.

The surprise of the ceremony was the vivid presentation of the directors of the competition program. On the eve of the opening, each of the authors was asked to formulate their own understanding of the topic "Artist and cinema", as well as answer several questions — to name their idol in directing and their favorite film, the artist and the main work of art, the source of inspiration, the main personal achievement and the time that they find most attractive — the past, present or future. These mini-business cards allowed the audience to see the contestants not only as directors, but also as bright, original authors with their own artistic vision and sense of time.

This year, nine films are participating in the main competition program: "The Wind in my Head" (directed by Arseny Moskovsky), "Where are You?" (directed by Veronika Korzhevskaya), "D-76" (directed by Alexey Zhitkovsky), "Zhuzha" (directed by Yulia Anishchenko), "My Own Bed is devouring Me" (dir. Vyacheslav Ivanov), "Not Gold" (dir. Tahmina Musset), "Surf Animal" (dir. Andrey Burmistrov), "The Sea-Sea Highway" (dir. Ilya Khramov) and "Someone Else's Call" (dir. Svetlana Belkina).

The festival's jury was headed by producer Maxim Dobromyslov. It includes cinematographer Vsevolod Kaptur, director and screenwriter Ivan Sosnin, theater and film actor Rinal Mukhametov and actress Anastasia Krasovskaya. Maxim Dobromyslov expressed the hope that this year's competition program would be very interesting, and the jury would celebrate the best, and in continuation of the theme of the ceremony, he read from the stage a poem by Vladimir Mayakovsky "Could you?".

Following the results of the festival, the following awards will be awarded: the main prize, the prize for the best director, the prize for the best actor, the prize for the best actress, the prize for the best visual solution.

The main prize of the festival is accompanied by a prize of the Organizing Committee in the amount of 1 million rubles.

In addition to the main awards, participants in the competition program will be able to claim special prizes from the festival's partners. The Vereteno rental company will award one of the films with a prize, including the organization of premiere screenings and support for further distribution of the film. VKontakte also established a separate prize — the winner will receive support in promoting the film at the box office.

The ceremony ended with a musical performance by the Ensemble, which performed works by the leaders of the musical avant—garde, Dmitry Shostakovich and Sergei Kuryokhin.

The festival opened with the film "The Temperature of the Universe" by Viktor Shamirov. This is a story about the life of scientists in the village of astronomers, inspired by the director's trip to the scientific village. The film won an award in the Russian Premieres competition at the 48th Moscow International Film Festival.

The film was presented by director Viktor Shamirov. According to him, this is a "slow, calm, quiet movie." He also noted that the festival awards are always a subjective choice of the jury, and the most important thing at the festival is "the opportunity to have a unique conversation with an intelligent person. And if the festival gives you this chance, that's what it exists for."

The festival will last until June 1. This year's festival will feature an extensive business program dedicated to key challenges and the future of the film industry. Also, for the second time, the Auteur Film Market will be held, where young directors and producers will present their projects to the professional community: distributors, platforms, festival selectors and potential partners.

This year, the festival also strengthens the educational direction and for the first time adds a special application block focused not only on learning, but also on real interaction with the industry.

Non-competitive programs and special screenings will be aimed at a wide variety of audiences: original films, the most striking short films and family films. Within the framework of the screening, a special program "Cinema from all over Russia" will be held, timed to coincide with the Year of Unity of the Peoples of Russia announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

A separate part of the festival will be the contemporary art exhibition "The Legacy of the avant-garde", dedicated to the artistic continuity and reinterpretation of the ideas of the Russian avant-garde by modern authors.