The 31st Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad” opened in the Belarusian capital on October 31. This year, the slogan of the forum is “History that changes perspective”.
Igor Petrishenko, First Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth of Independent States, participated in the opening ceremony held on the stage of the Palace of the Republic.
Before the event, the red carpet in the foyer of the Palace of the Republic featured appearances by popular actors, film directors, jury members, and film crews of the festival’s competition entries. An interactive exhibition of recent films from “Belarusfilm” was also organized, allowing visitors to step into scenes from specific movies, take photos with actors, and feel involved in the filmmaking process.
The opening film was the debut work “Perelomnyy Moment” (“Turning Point”) by Belarusian director Dmitry Soroka.
Overall, the 31st Minsk International Film Festival received over 3,600 applications for participation from 120 countries, with 157 films from 41 countries selected. “Listapad” features works from Russia, China, India, Iran, Pakistan, and European countries. This year marks the first participation of representatives from Vietnam and the Philippines.
The film festival will feature eight competition programs. These include contests for feature films, documentaries, animated films, films for children and youth audiences (“Listapadzik”), “Cinema of the Young”, a national film schools competition, and a national competition. Furthermore, this year, following proposals from the Belarusian Union of Cinematographers and the wider film community, a short film competition has been added.
The festival will host major premieres. Minsk will see the first screening of the historical drama “Tamerlane: The Rise of the Last Conqueror” by American director Jacob Schwartz, which tells the story of Amir Timur, one of the Turco-Mongol conquerors and founder of the Timurid Empire. The film was made by an international team, with filming taking place in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Belarusian audiences will also see the film “Moy Ded” (“My Grandfather”) directed by Svyatoslav Vlasov, starring People’s Artist of Belarus Vladimir Gostyukhin. The film “Nikita” by Nikolay Burlyaev and Dmitry Chernetsov, created for the 80th birthday of the famous Russian director Nikita Mikhalkov, will have a premiere screening. Film screenings will take place at Minsk cinemas “Pobeda”, “Mir”, “Tsentralny”, “Pioner”, and “Belarus”. Following tradition, films will also be shown in other regions across the country.
The organizers of “Listapad” promise a rich program. In addition to competition and non-competition screenings, the festival will include Open Doors days at the “Belarusfilm” studio. Creative meetings, round tables with film producers and chairs of cinematographers’ unions belonging to the Confederation of Cinematographers' Unions, and master classes by film industry professionals will also be held.
The film festival will last until November 7.
For information
The first “Listapad” festival was held in 1994. The film forum aimed to unite the best films (feature and documentary) created in the post-Soviet space. It debuted under the name “Listapad Post-Soviet Film Festival”. The initial forums featured films from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. Over time, the film festival expanded, gained authority, and in 2003 officially acquired international status. That year, Minsk featured films from Poland, Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the USA, Iran, China, and Japan.
Initially, the juries of filmmakers, journalists, and viewers delivered a verdict at the competition. In 1996, the Audience Choice Award became the main prize of the festival. Prior to that, all three awards (from filmmakers, journalists, and viewers) were equal. Since 2010, professional jury decide on the winner.
The Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad” has become a cultural brand of Belarus, uniting film professionals and enthusiasts from around the world. The festival is the largest and most representative film forum in the post-Soviet region.