Molodist’ 40th anniversary
The 40th anniversary of the Kyiv International Festival Molodist traditionally takes place on the last week of October. For the first time the grand opening will be held in the Shevchenko National Opera Theater on October 23. The organizer of the ceremony, TRK Ukraina, is going to broadcast the event live for the entire country. The film Cartagena by the French director Alain Monnet will be shown at the opening. The charming Sophie Marceau and the inimitable Christopher Lambert starred in the film and will be the star guests of the festival, along with monsieur Depardieu.
Molodist, despite its advanced age, has grown in stature in the eyes of the world cinematographic public. It is the only festival in Ukraine that is officially recognized by the International Federation of Film Producers’ Association. The festival keeps launching new stars to the cinematographic orbit with youthful strength. They later come back to the festival, remembering their lucky start, in order to present new non-competition pictures, hold workshops and enjoy the great atmosphere of the festival. For instance, Austrian director Reiner Frimmel, winner of Molodist-2009 Grand Prix, will be one of the international jury members. The jury will also include the famous Russian producer Olena Yatsura and the well-known Ukrainian artist Oleksandr Roytburd.
The film My happiness of our fellow citizen Serhii Loznytsia will make its debut in the full-length films competition program. It has already gathered numerous awards but for some reason the Ministry of Culture and Tourism does not recognize its stunning success. Nevertheless, being a co-founder of Molodist, the Ministry supported the festival financially this time as well. Apart from the Ukrainian film, the program includes Swedish-French film Sound of Noise by Ola Simonsson and Johannes Stjarne Nilsson, Another Sky by Dmitry Mamulya (Russia), Street Days by Levan Koguashvili (Georgia) and many other interesting films.
The Ukrainian film Obstacle by Maksym Buinytsky will participate in the student films category.
The awards will fall into the following categories: Grand Prix Scythian Deer (10,000 dollars), the best full-length feature film, the best short film, the best student film (the award is 2,500 dollars in each category), and the prize for the best young actor (1,000 euros).
Molodist, just like any other serious film festival, is famous for its non-competition programs that will be presented in the Kyiv cinemas Kyiv, Zhovten and others. “20+20” combines the best works in the festival’s history, including films by Francois Ozon, Valerii Todorovsky, Ivan Mykolaichuk, Vilen Novak, Milcho Manchevski, Tom Tykwer, and others. Cinema fans can see the full list on the festival’s website. Other programs include: Festival of Festivals, French Cinema Today, German Boulevard, New Russian Cinema, Oriental Express, Art-Life, Sunny Bunny (Gay and Lesbian films), and Scandinavian Panorama.
The organization of the festival, as before, involves the active participantion of many embassies, culture centers, the Ukraine-3000 foundation, National Union of Cinematographers, and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The New Traditions charity foundation has also been a partner of the festival for many years.
The Molodist festival and its team, headed by general director Andrii Khalpakhchi, invites all interested people to dive into the wonderful world of cinema on October 23-31. Kyiv cinemas are looking forward to your visit.
