The IV Carpathian Mountain International Film Festival, which will take place in Uzhhorod from 21 to 24 September 2023 and is dedicated to the mountains, sustainable tourism and nature conservation, announces short and full-length competition and non-competition programmes. A total of 36 films will be screened at the festival.
The films in the programme include both Ukrainian and foreign films from all over the world - Poland, Germany, Slovakia, the USA, Iceland, the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Spain, the UK and other countries. This year, the focus was on documentary films. During the screenings, the audience will have the opportunity to talk to the authors of the films, including the director Olesia Morgunets-Isaenko, Dmytro Hreshko, Volodymyr Moravek and others.
The opening film of the festival was the film "King Lear: How we searched for love during the war" directed by Dmytro Hreshko, which was filmed in Uzhhorod in 2022. The closing film was a documentary by Maksym Melnyk "Three Women"depicting life in the village of Stuzhytsia, Zakarpattia region.
"Every year, we try to select films that could have a positive impact on local communities and show examples of positive coexistence in mountainous areas. Another priority of the film festival is the educational programme, where we develop the topics of ecology, cinema and sustainable tourism and outdoor activities. To promote the Carpathian region, we have also introduced a photo competition. Thus, all these events together contribute to the development and popularisation of the Carpathian region for both Ukrainians and foreign guests," comments on the choice of this year's programme, documentary film director Dmytro Greshko.
In addition to the screenings, the festival will feature a series of lectures and panel discussions about cinema ("Cinema during the war". Panel discussion with representatives of the Ukrainian government, film industry and film commissions; Lecture "Shoot and influence: the role of documentary cinema in society" from the programmer of the International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival Docudays UA Yulia Kovalenko;), and also about tourism (Lectures "The experience of tourist guides during the war" і "How to get ready for the first hike") and the environment (panel discussion "The state of the environment in the Carpathian region during the war" with Olesia Morgunets-Isaenko (director of the film And Every River), Ivanna Trofymenko (Chysto.De), Oksana Stankevych-Volosianchuk (Ecosphere), and Oleksandr Koval (Free Svydovets).The festival also includes Photo contest "Life of the Carpathians" in cooperation with the Frankfurt Zoological Society. The photo contest will select three winners in different categories. The deadline for submitting your work is 18.09. at the link.
Full list of films:
Feature documentaries
"Three Women, dir. Maxim Melnik (Germany)
"I dreamed of a meadow", dir. Robert Żurakowski (Poland)
"Adam Ondra: Pushing the Limits, dir. Jan Simanek and Petr Zaruba (Czech Republic, Italy)
"We will not fade away." dir. Alisa Kovalenko (Ukraine, France, Poland)
"Mountain Guides", dir. Pavol Barabas (Slovakia)
"Alpenland, dir. Robert Schabus (Austria)
Short documentaries. Part 1 - Sports
"Born curious", dir. Julia de Guzman (USA)
"Svaneti is a hidden paradise", dir. Philip Eisenberg (Austria)
"Right Left is a film about turns, dir. Samuel McMahon (Switzerland)
"Operation Spire of the South: Electric Avenue", dir. Georgi Kezerov, Stoyil Dimitrov (Bulgaria)
"My Phantom, dir. Line van den Berg (Netherlands)
Short documentaries. Part 2 - Society
"Shepherd", dir. Matthias Julot, Lucien Roux (Switzerland)
"Winter is coming, it's passing." dir. Andrea Kalinová (Slovakia)
"Prychal, dir. Victoria Semenova, Pavlo Semenov (Ukraine)
"The Bonds of Nature", dir. Sven Pitoom, Gríma Irmudóttir, Jonathan Damborg (Iceland)
"The next day", dir. Glenn Dumortier (Belgium)
"DOVKOLA", dir. Flora Borovyk (Ukraine)
"Hello, I'm on the mountain", dir. Liza Pyrozhkova (Ukraine)
Short feature films
"On the Edge", dir. Matteo Sanders (Austria)
"It's quiet here for now." dir. Olena Podolianko and Novruz Hikmet (Ukraine)
"Go to the forest." dir. Lucie Prost (France)
"An award for Bernadette", dir. Andreas Elsener (Switzerland)
"The Great Little War", dir. Myroslav Latyk (Ukraine)
Short animated films
"The Legend of the Golden Horn, dir. Lee Vučko (Slovenia)
"The Giant and the Seed, dir. Sarah Shabani (Germany)
"Egoland, dir. Ignacio López Fabregas (Spain)
"Predatory Challenge, dir. Carnie Ariely, Saul Freed (UK)
A non-competitive programme of contemporary short metres
"Hermann Huber is the value of time", dir. Tom Dauer (Germany)
"Hard", dir. Marcin Polar (Poland)
"The Disappearance of Janusz Klarner, dir. Franciszek Berbeka (Poland)
"Kharkiv Music Fest has taken place"directed by Vyacheslav Turyanytsia (Ukraine)
"The Dying Swan, dir. Stephen Fingleton (Ukraine)
"Broken", dir. Solomiya Tomashchuk (Ukraine)
Out-of-competition programme of full metres
"King Lear: How we searched for love during the war", dir. by Dmytro Greshko (Ukraine)
"And every river", dir. Olesia Morgunets-Isaenko (Ukraine)
"Bandits about a ballad"dir. Vladimír Moravek (Czech Republic, Slovakia)
The competition programmes will be evaluated by a jury consisting of Yulia Kovalenko, PhD in Cultural Studies, film critic, programmer of the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival, Olesya Morgunets-Isaenko, director, Illya Gladshtein, producer and co-founder of the KINO42 chamber cinema in Kyiv, and Polina German, producer of the opening documentary King Lear: How We Searched for Love During the War.
The 4th Carpathian Mountain International Film Festival (CMIFF) will take place from 21 to 24 September in Uzhhorod at the Transcarpathian Academic Regional Puppet Theatre "BAVKA" and the Transcarpathian Academy of Arts.
Organisers: Transcarpathian Film Commission, Transcarpathian Regional Council, Transcarpathian Regional Military Administration, Uzhhorod City Council, Transcarpathian Academic Regional Puppet Theatre "BAVKA"
Partners: Czech Centre Kyiv, Goethe-Institut Ukraine, Polish Institute in Kyiv, Frankfurt Zoological Society, Department of English Philology of UzhNU, Eat Me, Riverside, Holy Pizza, Wine Restaurant "Kovacs Wine Cellar" (Komitat Ung), Gorgany, Emigrant, Ukrainian Art Fund, Skalka, Transcarpathian Academy of Arts, Skalka Film School, Hisoshi Art Studio, Suprasoul.
Information partners: Varosh, Zaholovok.com.ua, New Ukrainian CinemaPress service of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration, Lirum, ProShokino, Tiktor Online, Public Uzhhorod.
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