Kinotavr (), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival was an open

film festival A film festival is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theater, cinemas or screening venues, usually annually and in a single city or region. Some film festivals show films outdoors or online. Films may be of recent ...

held in the

resort city A resort town, resort city or resort destination is an urban area where tourism or vacationing is the primary component of the local culture and economy. A typical resort town has one or more actual resorts in the surrounding area. Sometimes ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

.Official website
retrieved on 2018-05-14. Alexander Rodnyansky said: "This year the festival will not take place, it will be rescheduled for a period when we survive the current political events and can return to the cinema, including to understand what happened to the country and to all of us." From 1994 to 2005 the festival consisted of two parts: the Open Russian Film Festival (ORFF) and the International Film Festival (IFF). As of 2008 it was the largest national film festival in Russia. There is a second film festival, known as Sochi International Film Festival and Awards. The word Kinotavr is a

portmanteau In linguistics, a blend—also known as a blend word, lexical blend, or portmanteau—is a word formed by combining the meanings, and parts of the sounds, of two or more words together.

(in Russian) of "Cinema" and "...taur" (as in ''

Centaur A centaur ( ; ; ), occasionally hippocentaur, also called Ixionidae (), is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse that was said to live in the mountains of Thessaly. In one version o ...

'' or ''

Minotaur In Greek mythology, the Minotaur (, ''Mīnṓtauros''), also known as Asterion, is a mythical creature portrayed during classical antiquity with the head and tail of a bull and the body of a man or, as described by Roman poet Ovid, a being "par ...

'').

History

The history of the festival can be traced back to the Soviet era when in 1990 Mark Rudinstein organized his “Festival of Un-bought Cinema” in

Podolsk Podolsk ( rus, Подольск, p=pɐˈdolʲsk) is an industrial city, center of Podolsk Urban Okrug, Moscow Oblast, Russia, located on the Pakhra River (a tributary of the Moskva River). Population: History The first mentions of the vill ...

Moscow Region Moscow Oblast (, , informally known as , ) is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). With a population of 8,524,665 (Russian Census (2021), 2021 Census) living in an area of , it is one of the most densely populate ...

. It was an attempt to support national film production and distribution in the time of social, political and economic turmoil in the

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

when film financing (up until then provided by the state) was reduced and national distribution network had collapsed. In 1991 the festival got its nowadays name “Kinotavr” and was relocated to Sochi. In 1994 it already consisted of two parts: the Open Russian Film Festival (ORFF) and the International Film Festival (IFF), registered with the International Federation of Associations of Film Producers ( FIAPF). In 2005 “Kinotavr” brand was bought by Alexander Rodnyansky, the management switched its focus onto national market and IFF part was stopped. Kinotavr now was aimed at becoming “a powerful mechanism in the development of a film industry” in Russia and then also continued to make "emphasis on international promotion of Russian product”. That change also gave the festival permanent programmer Sitora Alieva an opportunity to "play down the rivalry between Kinotavr and the Moscow Film Festival, also held in June". The last edition of the festival was held in 2021. While preparing the upcoming 2022 edition, the president of the ''Kinotavr'' film festival, Alexander Rodnyansky, announced in March 2022 that the festival would not be held this year. According to the festival's president, "One cannot talk about festivals when Russia is waging an aggressive war". In February 2023, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation announced that the festival would not take place that year either. In October 2023, the festival's website was taken offline. The festival's president, Alexander Rodnyansky, was declared a "

foreign agent A foreign agent is any person or entity actively carrying out the interests of a foreign principal while located in another host country, generally outside the Diplomatic immunity, protections offered to those working in their official capacity fo ...

" by the Russian Ministry of Justice on October 21, 2022. According to the Russian film industry publication "Exhibitor's Bulletin", citing its own sources, the state "would not restore the Sochi film festival in its previous form". ''De facto'', the festival has ceased to exist.

Awards

*The Grand Prize *Best Director *Best Debut *Best Actor *Best Actress *Best Screenplay is called the " Grigory Gorin Award for the Best Screenplay" *Best Music is called the " Tariverdiev Prize for the Best Music" *The prize of the contest "Kinotavr:

Short Film A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film o ...

" Over the history the following prizes have also been awarded: *The Grand Prize (Second Prize) for the second best entry *Special Prize of the Jury *"Diamond Rose" prize *Prize of the Guild of Russian Film Producers, for the best producer's project *Prize of the Guild of Russian Film Scholars and Film Critics *Prize of the Festival's Presidential Council *FIPRESCI Prize, by

Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional Film criticism, film critics and film journalists from ...

(

FIPRESCI The International Federation of Film Critics (FIPRESCI, short for ''Fédération Internationale de la Presse Cinématographique'') is an association of national organizations of professional film critics and film journalists from around the wor ...

) *FIPRESCI Prize - Special Mention

Winners

Grand Prize

* 1990 – ''

Revenge Revenge is defined as committing a harmful action against a person or group in response to a grievance, be it real or perceived. Vengeful forms of justice, such as primitive justice or retributive justice, are often differentiated from more fo ...

'', dir.

Yermek Shinarbayev Yermek Shinarbayev (also translated as Ermek Shinarbaev; , ''Ермек Бектасұлы Шынарбаев'') is a Soviet and Kazakh film director. Born in 1953 in Alma-Ata, Soviet Union (now Almaty, Kazakhstan), Shinarbaev is sometimes categ ...

) * 1991 – '' Sons of Bitches'' (Сукины дети, dir.

Leonid Filatov Leonid Alekseyevich Filatov ( rus, Леонид Алексеевич Филатов, p=lʲɪɐˈnʲit əlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ fʲɪˈlatəf, a=Lyeonid Alyeksyeyevich Filatov.ru.vorb.oga; 24 December 1946 – 26 October 2003) was a Soviet an ...

) * 1992 – '' The Sun of the Sleepless'' (Солнце неспящих, dir. Temur Babluani) * 1993 – '' Encore, Once More Encore!'' (Анкор, ещё анкор!, dir. Pyotr Todorovsky) * 1994 – '' Little Angel, Make Me Happy'' (Ангелочек, сделай радость, ''Angelochek sdelay radost'', dir. Uzmaan Saparov) * 1995 – '' Peculiarities of the National Hunt'' (Особенности национальной охоты, dir.

Aleksandr Rogozhkin Aleksandr Vladimirovich Rogozhkin (; 3 October 1949 – 23 October 2021) was a Russian film director and writer. Career In 1990, Rogozhkin directed ''The Guard (1990 film), Karaul'', which won the Alfred Bauer Prize at the 40th Berlin Internat ...

) * 1996 – '' Prisoner of the Mountains'' (Кавказский пленник, dir. Sergei Bodrov) * 1997 – ''

Brother A brother (: brothers or brethren) is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a family, familial relationship, it is sometimes used ende ...

'' (Брат, dir.

Aleksei Balabanov Aleksei Oktyabrinovich Balabanov (; 25 February 1959 – 18 May 2013) was a Russian film director, screenwriter, and Film producer, producer, a member of European Film Academy. He started from creating mostly arthouse pictures and music videos ...

) * 1998 – ''

Time of the dancer Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to compa ...

'' (Время танцора, dir.

) * 2000 – '' Luna Papa'' (Лунный папа, dir.

Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov Bakhtyar Khudojnazarov ( Russian/, ) (May 29, 1965 – April 21, 2015) was a film director, producer and screenwriter from Tajikistan, a graduate of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography. His most internationally famous film is the comedy '' ...

) * 2001 – '' Tender Age'' (Нежный возраст, dir. Sergei Solovyov) * 2002 – ''

War War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

'' (Война, dir.

) * 2003 – '' Old Women'' (Старухи, dir. Gennadi Sidorov) * 2004 – '' A Driver for Vera'' (Водитель для Веры, dir.

Pavel Chukhray Pavel Grigoryevich Chukhray (; Bykovo, Ramensky District, Moscow Oblast, Bykovo, Moscow Oblast, October 14, 1946) is a Soviet and Russian film director and screenwriter. He is the son of the prominent Russian film director Grigory Chukhray. ...

) * 2005 – '' Poor Relatives'' (Бедные родственники, dir.

Pavel Lungin Pavel Semyonovich Lungin (; born 12 July 1949) is a Russian film director. He is sometimes credited as Pavel Loungine (as in the American release of ''Tycoon (2002 film), Tycoon''). Lungin was awarded the distinction People's Artist of Russia in ...

) * 2006 – '' Playing the Victim'' (Изображая жертву, dir. Kirill Serebrennikov) * 2007 – '' Simple Things'' (Простые вещи, dir.

Alexei Popogrebski Alexei Petrovich Popogrebsky (; born 7 August 1972) is a Russian film director and screenwriter. His 2010 film '' How I Ended This Summer'' was nominated for the Golden Bear The Golden Bear () is the highest prize awarded for the best film ...

) * 2008 – '' Pal/Secam'' (dir. Dmitry Povolotsky) * 2009 – '' Wolfy'' (Волчок, dir. Vassily Sigarev) * 2010 – ''

Truce A ceasefire (also known as a truce), also spelled cease-fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions often due to mediation by a third party. Ceasefires may b ...

'' (Перемирие, dir. Svetlana Proskurina) * 2011 – '' Indifference'' (Безразличие, dir. Oleg Flyangolts) * 2012 – '' I Will By Your Side'' (Я буду рядом, dir. Pavel Ruminov) * 2013 – '' The Geographer Drank His Globe Away'' (Географ глобус пропил, dir. Alexander Veledinsky) * 2014 – ''

Test Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to: * Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities Arts and entertainment * ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film * ''Test'' (2014 film) ...

'' (Испытание, dir. Alexander Kott) * 2015 – '' About Love'' (Про любовь, dir. Anna Melikian) * 2016 – '' The Good Boy'' (Хороший мальчик, dir. Oksana Karas) * 2017 – ''

Arrhythmia Arrhythmias, also known as cardiac arrhythmias, are irregularities in the cardiac cycle, heartbeat, including when it is too fast or too slow. Essentially, this is anything but normal sinus rhythm. A resting heart rate that is too fast – ab ...

'' (Аритми́я, dir. Boris Khlebnikov) * 2018 – '' Core of the World'' (Сердце мира, dir.

Natalia Meshchaninova Nataliya Viktorovna Meshchaninova (, born on 17 February 1982) is a Russian film director, screenwriter, and author. As a screenwriter, she won, in 2015 together with Lyubov Mulmenko, the Nika Award for Discovery of the Year. The films she directed ...

) * 2019 – '' The Bull'' (Бык, dir. Boris Akopov) * 2020 - '' Scarecrow'' (Пугало, dir. Dmitry Davydov) * 2021 - '' Freeze Dance'' (Море волнуется раз, dir. Nikolay Khomeriki)

References and notes

External links

Kinotavr
official page in English. * {{IMDb event, 0000617, Sochi Open Russian Film Festival
Foto gallery from "Kinotavr": Star carpet

Fifteen Realities of Russian Cinema (Kinotavr 2012)

Kinotavr: Caught in the Crossfire

Kinotavr.info
Recurring events established in 1991 1991 establishments in Russia Film festivals in Russia Culture in Sochi