On Saturday, September 18, the 32nd Kinotavr Film Festival starts in Sochi.

The documentary film by Pyotr Shepotinnik “We will not be others” was chosen as the opening film of the show.

The tape is dedicated to the memories of Sergei Bodrov, Jr. and is released in the year of the 50th anniversary of the artist and director's birth.

The idea of ​​the project belongs to producers Valery Fedorovich and Evgeny Nikishov.

The shooting was attended by Nadezhda Vasilyeva, Sergey Astakhov, Sergey Selyanov, Vyacheslav Butusov.

The film includes archival footage of Bodrov himself and Alexei Balabanov, who died in 2013.

As part of the opening ceremony, Sergei Selyanov will be awarded an honorary prize with the wording "For a unique producer's flair and support for Russian talents."

15 films were selected for the competition program.

As the program director of "Kinotavr" Sitora Alieva said, in 2021 the organizers received a record number of applications - 104. At the same time, 60 films were presented by debutant filmmakers (some of them have been in the industry for many years, but this time they showed themselves in a new quality and tested other areas of activity).

“In 2021, the selection competition was very tough.

There were heated discussions between the selectors, we returned to the films, conditionally placed in the reserve, looked at them again.

The concept of the program and the composition of specific films have emerged from such lively collegial work, ”Aliyeva explained.

  • Shot from the film "Dormitory"

  • © Shot from the film "Dormitory"

A loud premiere within the framework of the show promises to be a film by debutant Roman Vasyanov "General" based on the novel "General on the Blood" by Alexei Ivanov.

The place of action - the dormitory - is a model of the world with a wide range of human relationships.

The five main characters are played by Ilya Malanin, Irina Starshenbaum, Nikita Efremov, Marina Vasilyeva and Gennady Vyrypaev.

Students try to find a balance between the rules of the hostel and inner freedom, but soon one of the girls commits suicide.

Such works as Vladivostok with Vitaly Kishchenko, Medea with Yevgeny Tsyganov and Tinatin Dalakishvili, At Close Distance with Ksenia Rappoport and Victoria Miroshnichenko, as well as Accomplice with Yura Borisov and Pavel Derevyanko.

In addition, the program includes "Danube", filmed with the participation of Valery Todorovsky, "The sea is worried once" from the laureate of the student film competition of the Cannes Film Festival Nikolai Khomeriki and "Captain Volkonogov escaped" by Alexei Chupov and Natasha Merkulova, previously shown at the Venice Film Festival.

The jury of the main competition included actors Chulpan Khamatova and Pyotr Fyodorov, director Pyotr Buslov, cameraman Yuri Nikogosov, producer Pyotr Anurov, film expert and culturologist Lilia Nemchenko, screenwriter Oleg Malovichko.

The short films will be evaluated by Ingeborga Dapkunaite, Egor Moskvitin, Yura Borisov, Andrey Zolotarev and Natalia Drozd.

They will get acquainted with 26 films, including projects by Evgeny Tsyganov, Nastya Korkia, Sonya Raizman, Alexander Petrov and other filmmakers.

Outside of the competition, Kinotavr will show films “Coupe No. 6” by Juho Kuosmanen, co-produced by Russia, Finland, Estonia and Germany, as well as “Mom, I'm at home” by Vladimir Bitokov.

These tapes have participated in the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, respectively.

  • Shot from the movie "Coupe number 6"

  • © Shot from the film "Coupe number 6"

As part of the business program, a Public Talk with representatives of online platforms is planned, a master class for actors from Kinotavr and Roskino “How to get into an international project: effective techniques of self-presentation and all the nuances of casting”, as well as pitching of series.

For the first time, such an initiative was tested in 2020.

The pitching jury includes Zhora Kryzhovnikov, Janik Fayziev, Alexandra Remizova, Igor Mishin and other industry representatives.

Also on "Kinotavr" for the first time there will be an out-of-competition program dedicated to multi-part projects: it will include premiere episodes of six TV series.

Among them are Boris Khlebnikov's comedy "Comrade Major", Nurbek Egen's detective thriller "The Female Praying Mantis", and Roman Volobuev's political satire "The Last Minister" (second season).

Festival President Alexander Rodnyansky called the new program a "step towards" streaming platforms, which, according to his observations, have benefited from the situation in the cinema market due to the pandemic.

“We are preparing for the future,” the producer explained.

The event will run until September 25 and will end with the awarding of the winners, as well as the screening of Kira Kovalenko's drama "Unclenching his fists".

The tape tells the story of the girl Ada, who lives with her family in the town of Mizur in North Ossetia. As she grows up, the heroine begins to dream of getting rid of her father's overprotection in order to start an independent life. Like some other films of "Kinotavr", this picture was presented at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the main prize of the "Unusual Regard" program.