The 28th International Film Festival “Message to Man”. Conclusions

Date of publication: 22 September 2018

The 28th International Film Festival “Message to Man” draws its conclusions. Fanny Ardant, Christian Berger, Jem Cohen, Jorn Donner, Sarah Stern, Alexey Uchitel, Victor Kosakovsky, Mikhail Gusman, other jury members, prize-winners and honorary guests of the festival from more than 20 countries attended the awarding ceremony.

More than 100 guests from 22 countries from around the world, including Fanny Ardant, Paolo Sorrentino, Ivars Seleckis, Pavel Kostomarov, Lyudmila Ulitskaya and many others took part in the jubilee screening as guests and members of the jury.

“Message to Man” remains the leader among Russian and many European festivals in terms of the number of films sent for selection. In 2018, directors from 98 countries sent their works to the festival. Such films as Loroby Paolo Sorrentino, Maria by Kallasby Tom Wolfe, Girlby Lucas Dont, Of Fathers and Sonsby Talal Derki, I Do Not Care if We Do Down in History as Barbariansby Radu Jude and Crystal Swanby Daria Zhuk became the festival’s sensations. In total, during the festival week, the audience could see 216 films, more than 50 Russian and 3 world premières.

The opening ceremony of the festival “Message to Man” at the Palace Square was attended by more than 17 000 people. Film screenings were sold out, for some films tickets were impossible to get even at the beginning of the festival week. For example, tickets to the Russian première of Sorrentino’s Lorowere sold out in a few hours.

On September 22, winners of the 2018 festival will be screened at the Velikan cinema. At 5:15 p.m. on the same date, viewers will be able to see Victor Kosakovsky’s Aquarela, the film closing the festival.

CONCLUSIONS OF THE 28TH IFF “MESSAGE TO MAN”

SPECIAL PRIZES

  • Honorary President’s Prize “For Truthfulness and Artistry” to Ivar Seleckis for the documentary film To Be Continued, Latvia, 2018.
  • Special prize of the festival’s general sponsor Ilim Group “For an Active Stance on Environmental Issues” to the documentary film Fatei and the Sea, Russia, 2018. Directors: Alina Rudnitskaya, Sergei Vinokurov.
  • Special prize of the festival’s sponsor Lenta inscribed “Life is a chain of events. The main thing is to believe and not give up” to the documentary film Fatei and the Sea,Russia, 2018. Directors: Alina Rudnitskaya, Sergei Vinokurov.
  • Special prize for an outstanding contribution to the documentary cinema to Victor Kosakovsky.
  • Danya Gurevich Prize for the best cinematography to the film Holera, Russia, 2018, cinematographer Kirill Synkov. Director: Svetlana Chernikova.
  • Bellona Environmental Law Organization’s prize for the best film, reflecting the problems of human-environment relations to the film Fatei and the Sea, Russia, 2018. Directors: Alina Rudnitskaya, Sergei Vinokurov.
  • Pavel Kogan Prize for the best Russian documentary short film created in the traditions of the Leningrad school of documentary film to the operators of the film Litvyakov to Man,Russia, 2018. Director: Roman Pomerantsev.
  • International Federation of Cinema Societies’ Prize for professionalism in working with characters and for the ability to show the unseen to the film Distant Constellation, USA/Turkey/Netherlands, 2017. Director: Shevon Mizrahi.
  • TV channel “Kultura” Prize for the best full-length Russian documentary to the film White Mama, Russia, 2018. Directors: Evgenia Ostanina, Zosia Rodkevich.
  • Alexander Rastorguev Prize “For Talent and Courage” to the film Songs for Kit, Russia/Belarus, 2017. Directors: Raisa Svistun and Ruslan Fedotov.
  • Special prize of the Leningrad Federation of Trade Unions for the best documentary about a man of labor to the film Northerners, Russia, 2017. Director: Ilya Povolotsky.

 

FESTIVAL AWARDS

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION

  • Grand Prix: A Woman Captured, director Bernadette Tuza-Ritter (Hungary, Germany, 2017, 89 min.)
  • Best short animation: O Jezu!, director Betina Bożek (Poland, 2017, 4 min.)
  • Best debut: Distant Constellation, director Shevon Mizrahi (USA, Turkey, Netherlands, 2017, 82 min.)
  • Best short documentary: Good Education, director Gu Yu (France, 2017, 30 min.)
  • Best short fiction: Stay-ups, director Johanna Ritel (Sweden, 2017, 11 min.)
  • Best full-length documentary: White Mama, directors Evgenia Ostanina, Zosia Rodkevich (Russia, 2018, 97 min.)

 

NATIONAL COMPETITION

  • The Centaur Prize and 50,000 roubles for the best film of the national competition, Songs for Kit, director Ruslan Fedotov.
  • The Jury Centaur Prize and 30,000 roubles “For the heroes of our time” to Nothing Personal, director Eugene Milykh.
  • Diploma “For Shakespearean professionalism” to King Lear, director Denis Klebleev.
  • Diploma “For cineshamanizm” to Camp on a Wind’s Road,director Natalia Kharlamova.
  • Diploma “For unbearableness of being” to The Wolf and the Seven Kids, directors Elena Gutkina and Genrikh Ignatov.

 

EXPERIMENTAL FILMS COMPETITION

  • The Centaur Prize and $1,000 for the best experimental film to Stains and Scratches, director Deimantas Narkevičius, Lithuania, 2017, 8 min.
  • Diploma “For the spectacular image of the Empire, which Eastern Europe lost, and Russia has restored” to The Hymns of Muscovy, director Dmitri Venkov, Russia, 2018, 14 min.

 

STUDENT JURY PRIZE

  • To the documentary film A Woman Captured, director Bernadette Tuza-Ritter (Hungary, Germany).

 

RUSSIAN PRESS PRIZE

  • To the documentary film White World according to Daliborek, director Vit Klusak (Czech Republic).
  • Special prize to the documentary film The Case,director Vera Krichevskaya (Russia).

 

FIPRESCI PRIZE

  • To the documentary film White Mama, directors Evgenia Ostanina, Zosia Rodkevich (Russia).