Jump to content

Moscow Jewish Film Festival

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Moscow Jewish Film Festival
LocationMoscow, Russia
Founded2015
Festival dateJune
Websitewww.mjff.ru

The Moscow Jewish Film Festival is an annual international film festival. It aims to gather in the program features, documentaries, shorts and animated films on the subject of Jewish culture, history and national identity and contemporary problems.[1] In 2015, Moscow joined a list of cities that celebrate this festival.[2]

History

[edit]

2015

[edit]

The first Moscow Jewish Film Festival was held from June 14 to 17, 2015, at Moscow's Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, a Documentary film center and cinema GUM. The festival was organized by Vanya Bowden,[3] Rusina Lekuh, and Egor Odintsov.[4] Sponsored by the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Jewish Agency for Israel, UJA-Federation of New York, Roskino,[5] and Ark Pictures. The jury was chaired by writer-director Konstantin Fam, and the other members were Rabbi Alexander Boroda, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia; Catherine Mtsituridze, television presenter, film critic and head of Roskino; Alexander Kott, director, screenwriter and producer, and Ruslan Sorokin - writer and producer.[6] The festival program included 21 films. The total number of people who attended screenings and educational events of the Festival exceeded 2,500.

2016

[edit]

The second Moscow Jewish Film Festival was held in Moscow from 14 to 21 June 2016,[7] at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, the Documentary film center, cinema GUM.[8] and KARO 11 cinema Oktyabr.[9][10] The festival opened with a film called A Tale of Love and Darkness directed by Natalie Portman. The jury was chaired by film director and screenwriter Alexander Mitta.[11] The festival program included thirty five films. The total number of people who attended screenings and educational events of the Festival exceeded five thousand.

2017

[edit]

The third Moscow Jewish Film Festival was held in Moscow from 12 to 20 June 2017,[12] at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, the Documentary film center, cinema GUM and KARO 11 cinema Oktyabr.[13][14] The jury was chaired by director, screenwriter and producer Pavel Lungin.[15] The opening film of the festival was The Bloom of Yesterday directed by Chris Kraus.[16] The film was presented by famous German actor Lars Eidinger.[17] The opening ceremony was held in Oktyabr cinema gathering about 1,600 spectators.[18] The festival program included forty nine films. The total number of people who attended screenings and educational events of the Festival exceeded eight thousand.

2018

[edit]

The fourth Moscow Jewish Film Festival was held in Moscow from 22 to 30 May 2018,[19] at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Documentary Film Center, cinema GUM, KARO 11 cinema Oktyabr, Moskino Zvezda[20] and Garage Screen Summer Cinema.[21][22] The jury was chaired by Alexander Rodnyansky,[23] producer of TV-shows and feature films, member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, founder of the first independent Ukrainian TV channel 1+1, CEO of CTC Media broadcasting company. The opening film of the festival was Denial directed by Mick Jackson.[24] The welcome speech at the Opening ceremony was held by the President of Jury Alexander Rodnyansky and famous American director and producer Brett Ratner.[25] The ceremony was held in cinema Oktyabr which gathered about 1,600 spectators.[26] The festival program included fifty three films. The total number of people who attended screenings and educational events of the Festival exceeded eight thousand.

2019

[edit]

The fifth Moscow Jewish Film Festival was held in Moscow from 23 to 30 June 2019[27] at the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, Documentary Film Center, cinema GUM, KARO 11 cinema Oktyabr, Moskino Zvezda, Moskino Kosmos, Knizhniki and Moscow Jewish Community Center.[28] The jury was chaired by Timur Weinstein,[29] general producer of the NTV television company, member of the International Academy of EMMY, Academy of Russian Television, Russian Academy of Cinematographic Arts. The welcome speech at the Opening ceremony was held by the President of Jury Timur Weinstein and American director Shawn Snyder, who presented his film To Dust as the Russian premiere and the opening film of the 5th Moscow Jewish Film Festival.[30] The festival program included fifty eight films. The total number of people who attended screenings and educational events of the Festival exceeded eight and a half thousand.

Organizers

[edit]

The organizer of the Moscow Jewish Film Festival is the Ark Foundation for the Support and Development of Jewish Cinema. The Ark Foundation was created with the aim of developing Jewish culture and preserving history, as well as promoting the ideas of humanism, tolerance and equality through the creation and distribution of cinematographic works and the organization of events in the field of cinema.[31]

Management of the festival

[edit]
  • CEO and Producer — Egor Odintsov
  • Producer — Diana Nadarova
  • Narrative Film Program Curator — Sergey Sdobnov
  • Documentary Film Program Curator — Egor Sennikov
  • Educational Director — Mikhail Libkin
  • Media Director - Anna Gorodetskaya.[32]

Film submissions

[edit]

To be considered for exhibition, submissions must have relevance to Jewish themes, issues, history, heritage, and culture. The festival accepts the following film types: narrative feature, documentary feature, narrative short, and documentary short.

Jury

[edit]

The decision on awarding the prizes of the festival is taken by the jury, whose composition is determined by the Directorate of the festival. The jury consists of the leading masters of world cinema: directors, actors, and critics. The jury is headed by the president of the jury.

The members of the Festival jury in different years were Soviet and Russian film director, screenwriter, and actor Alexander Mitta, Rabbi, President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia Alexander Boroda, film directors Pavel Lungin,[33] Sergei Mokritskiy, Dmitry Astrakhan, Konstantin Fam and Alexander Kott, producers Alexander Ageyev and Ruslan Sorokin, director of the Documentary film center Sofya Kapkova, TV presenter, film critic and film critic Catherine Mtsituridze[34] and others.

Public Council

[edit]

A public council, created in 2017, continued its work and included the following filmmakers and leaders of the Jewish community:

  • Alexander Boroda — Rabbi, the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, Founder and General Director of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, a member of the Civic Chamber of the Russian Federation
  • Yuri Kanner — President of Russian Jewish Congress, Vice President and member of the steering committee of World Jewish Congress
  • Mikhail Gusman — Journalist, First deputy director general of ITAR-TASS, recipient of the Russian State Prize, Honored Journalist of the Russian Federation.
  • Boruch Gorin — Journalist, publisher
  • Dorit Golender — diplomat, public figure, former Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the State of Israel in the Russian Federation (2010-2015)
  • Alexander Mitta — film director, screenwriter
  • Svetlana Maksimchenko — Producer, Moskino General Director and Executive Secretary of Moscow Film Commission.
  • Susanna Alperina — journalist, writer

Awards

[edit]

The award of the MJFF is called the "Key to Discoveries". The statuette symbolizes the place of the Jewish culture at the intersection of interaction between different countries and nationalities.[35]

The Jury awards the "Key to Discoveries" in the following categories:

  • Best Film
  • Best Documentary Feature Film
  • Best Narrative Short Film
  • Best Documentary Short Film
  • Jury Prize — awarded to any picture that is part of the competition by Jury’s choice.
  • Honorary Award "For outstanding contribution to the development of the Jewish cinema in Russia'' — awarded by The Public Council of the Festival[36][37]
  • Since 2015 the family of producer Yakov Kaller (1946–2017) have been giving out the special Yakov Kaller Award to the best Russian Jewish-themed film.

Education

[edit]

The educational program of the Moscow Jewish Film Festival includes lectures, discussions and workshops that aim at understanding whether there exists a unique language of Jewish cinematography, and what it is made of, when it appeared, how it was developing and is being influenced by modernity; what images have been and are being created through that language and who is that hero that was born by the Jewish culture and sang by its cinematography. The Festival organizes conversations with creators of the films, film experts, writers, theologians, musicians, and with each other.

In different years the lecturers were Shakespearian and theater historian Aleksei Bartoshevich, researcher of Jewish thought Uri Gershovich, musicologist Lyalya Kandaurova, religious scholar and historian Yuri Tabak, cinematographer Valery Davydov, Russian philosopher Igor Chubarov, flash fiction author, poet and essayist Linor Goralik, director and screenwriter Oleg Dorman, film critic Valery Davydov, Alexander Bartosiewicz, Alexander Mitta, Lyudmila Ulitskaya, the lead actor in the movie Son of Saul Géza Röhrig,[38][39][40] film director and screenwriter Andrei Konchalovsky, Russian artist Nikolay Polissky, the son of Yitzhak Rabin - Yuval Rabin, film director Amir Yatsiv and others.[41]

Impact

[edit]

Moscow Jewish Film Festival is attracting new audiences in order to create a better connection with Jewish culture and the Jewish cultural community. The Festival contributes to positive positioning of the Jewish community in the non-Jewish world. The growing interest from the audience confirmed the success of the festival and its events; by increasing the number of the audience and by the consistent interest shown towards the Festival by media and film industry representatives, both in Russia and worldwide. Most of the films presented at the festival were shown in Russia for the first time. Most part of the festival screenings are Russian premieres of the films.

We gladly support the Moscow Jewish Film Festival and are determined to extend this partnership, for we consider it to be important not only for the Russian Jewish Community, but for the country as a whole. The Festivals contributes significantly into establishing peace between nations and confessions.[42]

— Yuri Kanner, President of the Russian Jewish Congress

Films that talk about Jewish themes are a great contribution into dialogue between cultures, which is undoubtedly important for a multinational country that Russia is.[43]

— Alexander Boroda, President of the President of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Russia, General Director and founder of the Jewish Museum and Tolerance Center, member of the Civic Chamber of Russia

Partners

[edit]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "7 reasons to visit MJFF — Booknik.ru". booknik.ru. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Jewish Film Festival will be held in Moscow". the-village.ru. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  3. ^ "Moscow Jewish Film Festival. Creators". mjff.ru. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  4. ^ "Jewish News Agency Top Stories". aen.ru. Archived from the original on 4 May 2016. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Roskino With the support of ROSKINO in Moscow will host the first Jewish Film Festival". roskino.org. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  6. ^ "The first Jewish Film Festival opens in Moscow". ria.ru. Retrieved 9 December 2016.
  7. ^ "В Москве пройдёт Еврейский кинофестиваль". The-village.ru. 2014-04-16. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  8. ^ "Московский Еврейский Кинофестиваль в Кинозале ГУМ". Trcmoscow.ru. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  9. ^ "Второй Московский еврейский кинофестиваль откроется лентой "Повесть о любви и тьме"". Tass.ru. 2016-06-14. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  10. ^ "На Московском еврейском кинофестивале покажут более 35 фильмов". Interfax.ru. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  11. ^ "The II Jewish Film Festival will be held in Moscow". 9tv.co.il. Retrieved 2018-02-15.
  12. ^ "3-й Московский еврейский кинофестиваль начнется в столице 12 июня". rewizor.ru. Archived from the original on 2017-10-14. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  13. ^ "Третий Еврейский кинофестиваль пройдет в Москве в июне". timeout.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  14. ^ "Московский Еврейский кинофестиваль объявляет полную программу". rabotnikitv.com. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  15. ^ "Жюри 3- го Московского Еврейского Кинофестиваля возглавит Павел Лунгин". mkisrael.co.il. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  16. ^ "Актер Ларс Айдингер откроет 3-й Московский Еврейский кинофестиваль". glasnarod.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  17. ^ "В России пройдет Третий Московский Еврейский Кинофестиваль". kinometro.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  18. ^ "Единение душ". film.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  19. ^ "В Москве пройдет 4-й Московский Еврейский кинофестиваль (МЕКФ)". expert.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  20. ^ "4-й Московский Еврейский кинофестиваль. Гид по фестивалю: топ-9 фильмов". thevanderlust.com. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  21. ^ "Карл Маркс, Йозеф Куделка и "Фокстрот"". iz.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  22. ^ "В столице в четвертый раз пройдет Московский еврейский кинофестиваль Подробнее: https://www.m24.ru/news/kultura/22052018/33191". m24.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25. {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  23. ^ "Александр Роднянский возглавит жюри 4-го Московского Еврейского Кинофестиваля". kinobusiness.com. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  24. ^ "IV Московский Еврейский кинофестиваль открылся картиной "Отрицание"". tass.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  25. ^ "Главное за 7 минут от 23.05.18". stmegi.com. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  26. ^ "IV Московский Еврейский кинофестиваль открылся картиной "Отрицание"". tass.ru. Retrieved 2017-09-25.
  27. ^ "Московский еврейский кинофестиваль откроется комедией про хасида и ученого". ria.ru.
  28. ^ "Объявлена конкурсная программа V Московского еврейского кинофестиваля". tass.ru.
  29. ^ ""Бесславных ублюдков" Тарантино вновь покажут в Москве". rg.ru.
  30. ^ ""Бесславных ублюдков" Тарантино вновь покажут в Москве". vokrug.tv.
  31. ^ "About the festival". mjff.ru.
  32. ^ "Creators". mjff.ru.
  33. ^ "Pavel Lungin headed the jury of the 3rd Moscow Jewish Film Festival". itv-show.ru. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  34. ^ "The first Jewish film festival will be held in Moscow". moslenta.ru. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  35. ^ "Московский еврейский кинофестиваль откроется комедией про хасида и ученого". ria.ru.
  36. ^ "The winners of the Moscow Jewish Film Festival are announced". colta.ru. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  37. ^ "The Honorary prize "For outstanding contribution to the development of Jewish films in Russia" was presented to Andrei Konchalovsky". tass.ru. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  38. ^ "МОСКВУ ПОСЕТИТ ЗВЕЗДА ФИЛЬМА "СЫН САУЛА"". Runews24.ru. 2016-06-13. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  39. ^ "Алексей Бартошевич, Людмила Улицкая и Олег Дорман прочитают лекции в рамках Московского еврейского кинофестиваля". Cinemotionlab.com. Archived from the original on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  40. ^ "Исполнитель главной роли в оскароносном фильме "Cын Cаула" Геза Рериг посетит 2-ой Московский Еврейский Кинофестиваль - Новости Израиля - МК Израиль". Mkisrael.co.il. Retrieved 2017-01-15.
  41. ^ "The 3rd Moscow Jewish Film Festival presented an educational program". rewizor.ru. Archived from the original on 2017-06-23. Retrieved 2017-09-26.
  42. ^ "Winners of the 3rd Moscow Jewish Film Festival announced". rewizor.ru. 2017-06-21. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
  43. ^ "1st Moscow Jewish Film Festival announced". 365mag.ru. Retrieved 2018-02-19.
[edit]