FEST IF ’98 WINNERS NAMED

The 3rd international festival of French-speaking drama companies ended in Kyiv. Organized by the French Cultural Center, it attracted the best performers from Ukraine, Belgium, Canada, France, Poland, and Switzerland. For a week young men and women from different countries could not only familiarize themselves with the dramatic art of colleagues at both audiences of the Youth Theater, but also communicate on a daily basis on board the General Vatutin pleasure ship which became their residence for the duration of the festival.

Parallel with this, the seventh All-Ukrainian Contest of French-Speaking Theaters was held in which 14 contenders vied, including a new, Teenage, nomination. It was won by the group from the Richelieu Lycee in Odesa, the trophy being a paid trip to a festival in Grasse (France).

In the main category, Students, the jury gave highest marks to the Alliance Francais from Luhansk (they will travel to a festival in Valleyrild, Quebec) for their production of Camus’ Caligula. The companies from the universities of Donetsk (Perek’s Pay Raise) and Chernivtsi (Keno’s A Lesson in Style) won trips to festivals in Avignon (France) and Krakow (Poland). The Alliance Francais from Horlivka (Barriere’s and Gredi’s Roses for Breakfast) received a special prize for command of the language, and their stars, Tetiana Kyseliova and Volodymyr Vlasov, will be on the jury in Grasse. Angela Pichkily of Simferopol University and Dmytro Zubov (Donetsk Alliance Francais) were named best actress and actor and will be expected at an actors’ workshop seminar in Avignon.

“This festival was a holiday of the theater, of youth, and of friendship,” declared Mr. Pascal Fieschi, French Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary in Kyiv.