The selection of creative works at VGIK has been completed and involves students from various creative workshops, faculties, departments of the university, Higher Courses of Film and Television at VGIK, as well as students from the branches of the Institute of Cinematography in Irkutsk, Sergiev Posad, Rostov-on-Don and Tashkent. The theme of this year’s festival is “Global Values”.

The festival is organised by the All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S. A. Gerasimov, the Producing Center “VGIK-Debut”, and the Creative Studio “Stella” with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, and the National Fund for Supporting Rights Holders. TV BRICS is the festival’s media partner.

The competition presented 187 films of various genres and formats, including multimedia projects, educational, course and diploma works. The length of each film varied from two or three to 35 minutes. The selection committee was made up of representatives from different faculties and departments, including film writing, directing, producing, acting, camerawork and art departments, as well as the Faculty of Animation and Multimedia and the Department of Sound Engineering. The committee selected 68 films to participate in the competition programme of the first stage.

The competition of student works will be held from 25 to 27 October. The jury, which includes the famous film director Aleksandr Galibin, will evaluate the creative potential of the participants. The jury will include well-known film personalities. The works will also be evaluated by the student jury. The names of the winners of the first stage will be announced on 27 October, and the best work will receive the Grand Prix. The film that won the Grand Prix, as well as the works awarded for the best director of fiction, non-fiction, multimedia and animated films will be presented to VGIK at the second stage of the festival, which will be held from 13 to 17 November.

In addition, the student jury and the audience will also be able to mark the films they liked, and some works will be awarded with special prizes. The films that passed the second stage will be shown from 14 to 16 November at the Museum of Cinema, Khanzhonkov Cinema Hall at VDNKh.

The VGIK International Student Festival is one of the most authoritative platforms where future screen artists from Russian and foreign film schools can present their works in the field of cinema and theatre to a wide audience.

The main goal of the festival is to recognise and encourage young talents of contemporary cinema, as well as to assess the prospects for the development of domestic and world cinema.

Photo: VGIK