The opening film from 1-2-3 Production, a number of victories, TV series pitches and Public Talk participation - the Kinotavr-2021 open Russian film festival in Sochi was an eventful one for Gazprom-Media Holding.
The film Nas Drugih ne Budet (There Will be no Others Like Us) about the late actor Sergei Bodrov Jr. opened the 32nd film festival. This was the first time in Kinotavr’s history that a documentary film opened the festival. Director Pyotr Shepotinnik brought the idea of producers Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeny Nikishov to life. The film is based on previously unreleased interviews with Sergei Bodrov Jr, director Aleksei Balabanov as well as interviews with the actor’s friends, family and colleagues and footage from film sets. The film will be in limited theatrical release starting on October 7.
Kinotavr’s main program, which its chairman Alexander Rodnyansky called one of the strongest in the festival’s history, featured 15 films. Among these was Natalya Kurdyashova’s Gerda (co-produced by Central Partnership, Red Media and Russkoe Vozrozhdenie film company with the support of Russia’s Ministry of Culture and Kinoprime modern cinema development foundation) - a winner in two nominations at the 2021 Locarno Film Festival, the film by Natasha Merkulova and Alexey Chupov Kapitan Volkonogov Bezhal (Captain Volkonogov Escaped) (producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeny Nikishov), and Vladimir Munkuev’s film Nuuccha (producers: Valeriy Fedorovich, Evgeny Nikishov).
The film Nuuccha received the best director award, while Natalya Kudryashova’s Gerda earned the jury’s special award. The main award went to Nikolay Khomeriki’s film More Volnuetsya Raz (The Sea Moves Once).
Kinotavr also hosted a pitching of series projects for the second time in its history. This year there were more than 700 pitches. Makar Kozhukhov, PREMIER’s deputy general manager, was among the jury members. The detective drama series Stantsiya (The Station), by screenwriter Viktoriya Zueva, emerged as the winner.
The pilot episode of the 1-2-3 Production series Identifikatsiya (Identification) was presented as part of the new “Kinotavr. Series” non-competition program. The series was directed by Vladlena Sandu and will be released exclusively on the PREMIER video service.
Sofya Mitrofanova, general manager of PREMIER, took part in the Public Talk. Together with other representatives of online platforms, she discussed the challenges the industry is facing and talked about PREMIER’s positioning on the video services market.
The films Ogon (Fire), Chernobyl, Batya, Para iz Budushego (Couple from the Future), Serebryannye Konki (The Silver Skates) were also screened as part of the festival, along with the premiere screening of the documentary Nas Drugih ne Budet and the films from the competition program Gerda, Kapitan Volkonogov Bezhal, Nuuccha and the TV series Identifikatsiya.
The national video hosting platform RUTUBE offered an exclusive broadcast of the festival’s closing ceremony, thus making it possible for viewers from across Russia and the world to become a part of the big film universe from their own homes.