#ARCTIC. #SIBERIA. THIS IS TAIMYR. Traditionally, the festival guests will be experts in the field of cinematography and animation from Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Krasnoyarsk.
The festival, founded by the cultural department of the Norilsk administration and the Rodina cinema complex, has been included in the list of brand events throughout the Krasnoyarsk region for several years. Traditionally, the festival not only includes viewing of children and teenagers’ video works (under 18 years old) sent from all over the country and neighboring countries, but also provides a wide program of interest to film and animation lovers.
“For many years, the Rodina cinema complex has been friends and cooperates with the House of Children’s Creativity, and we are happy to present a joint event as part of the Polyarnaya Sova (eng.: Polar Owl) festival. For those who are interested in animation, the Ekran (eng.: Screen) animation studio will host a master class on storyboarding from Nikolay Nadezhin, a teacher with 20 years of experience, an artist, the head of the only comics and manga studio in Norilsk”, shares the Rodina cinema complex director Anastasia Batova.
For the first time within the festival framework, an educational lecture about the polar owl and other Arctic inhabitants will be held from the children’s educational center Bely Mishka (eng.: Polar Bear): its director Elena Gudkova will tell about the habits of the proud and beautiful bird, which has become a symbol of the festival.
On the same day, a series of creative meetings will be opened by guests from St. Petersburg: Denis Chernov, Russian director, screenwriter and voice actor, one of the creators of the sensational project Smeshariki, which has become a real animated trend in Russian television in the last ten years, and Tatyana Belova, screenwriter and creative producer of the Riki group of companies, general director of her own animation company Chernovik.
On the evening of October 18, a creative evening of Alexander Kalashnikov, chairman of the Krasnoyarsk branch of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia, director, producer, director of the Krasnoyarsk Film Studio, laureate of the State Prize of the Krasnoyarsk Region for Cinematography is planned at the Norilsk Museum. He will present his documentary film Three Museums on the Shore about the revival of the traditions of personal, personalized museums in ancient settlements on the banks of the great Yenisey. After the screening, viewers will be able to communicate with the famous director.
On October 19, in the Ekran studio, guests of the festival-competition will meet with another guest of the Polar Owl, Alexander Zhohov, a man well known in Norilsk.
“20 years ago, a native Norilsk resident, an employee of Rodina, co-authored the idea of creating the Ekran animation studio and served as its artistic director for more than ten years. Under Alexander Zhohov, Ekran won the first major awards at all-Russian competitions, and the works of young Norilsk animators were included in the archives of several film studios”, said the festival organizers.
Today Alexander is a resident of St. Petersburg, a screenwriter, director of animation and documentary films. In Norilsk he will hold a master class Cartoon Studio in your Pocket, dedicated to shooting an animated film on a mobile phone. This is an increasingly popular film format that allows the viewer to feel the presence of “here and now”.
The central event of the festival-competition will be the jury work. Traditionally, the Audience Award in the Animation Film category will be awarded by a children’s jury. Every year, students from different schools in the city take part in it. This year, the important mission will be carried out by the children of school No. 6, which has become the leader in organized visits to the Rodina cinema complex in 2023.
An adult professional jury will have to review hundreds of works by individual authors and children’s groups. Almost 400 works from all over the country and neighboring countries were sent to the competition, this is almost twice as much as last year. It’s interesting, that there is no lower age limit for authors: traditionally, a large number of video works on a variety of topics are sent by preschoolers, and of very high quality, they say at Rodina.
The closing ceremony of the festival, summing up the results and presenting well-deserved awards will take place on October 20. And until October 22, the Festival Echo will last: the works of the competition winners can be seen on the Rodina’s YouTube channel and social networks:
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Text: Tatyana Sokolova, Photo: Severny Gorod media company’s archive