All articles by Kirill Galetski
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News
Tornatore's The Unknown wins best director in Moscow
The ten-day 29th Moscow International Film Festival ended on Saturday, with Italian director Giuseppe Tornatore winning the festival's Best Director award for his film The Unknown (La Sconosciuta). The film stars Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport as a young Ukrainian woman in today's Italy working as domestic help and trying to ...
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News
Moscow to host Emir Kusturica for opening night film Promise Me This
The 29th Moscow International Film Festival (June 21-30) will open with Promise Me This (Zavet), directed by Emir Kusturica, and will close with Claude Lelouch's Roman de gare. Kusturica will travel to Moscow for the opening night as well as a retrospective of his early work. The festival will show ...
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News
Moscow gives top prize to Sweden's About Sara
The 28th Moscow International Film Festival (June 23-July 2) wrapped onSunday with the festival awards ceremony and Pedro Almodovar'sVolver as the closing night film. Despite thefestival's new hub this year being relocated to the Soviet-era Oktyabr Cinema multiplex, complete with a 1500-seatpremiere hall, organisers chose to hold opening and closing ...
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Swede's first feature wins top prize at Moscow Film Festival
The 28th Moscow International Film Festival recovered from the debacle of Michael Haneke's eleventh-hour refusal to chair the main jury, finishing with a surprise best picture winner.The jury, including Julie Christie, Canadian actor Remy Girard and French film critic and producer Pierre-Henri Deleau, chose cult Polish filmmaker and existing ...
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News
Haneke withdraws from jury duty in Moscow
Austrian director Michael Haneke has refused to head the main jury in the MoscowInternational Film Festival (June 23-July 2), the festival's general director Renat Davletyarov announced atthe first festival press conference on Wednesday.Haneke'swithdrawal came despite earlier written confirmation that he would serve as themain jury president and the festival's formation ...
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News
Plans for a new St Petersburg Film Festival move ahead
The first St.Petersburg International Film Festival is slated for 18 - 31 July. The festivalis the brainchild of businessman Mark Rudinstein,head of Kinomark, a Moscow-based company thatcurrently runs Russia's Golden Ram Awards and the specialised Faces of Love andKinotavrik film festivals. 'This is a veryambitious undertaking,' Rudinstein said, 'The idea ...
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News
Company 9 wins best film at 19th Nika Awards in Russia
The 19th annual Nika Awards ceremony took place in Moscow on Friday, March17. This year's awards yielded no realsurprises. Alexei Uchitel's character study Dreaming Of Space,Alexei Guerman, Jr.'shistorical drama Garpastumand Fyodor Bondarchuk's Afghan war epic and Company 9 managed to win multipleawards. Company 9, which was the box-office sensation of ...
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News
Day Watch breaks Russian box office record
Day Watch, the firstsequel to Russian horror fantasy thriller NightWatch, has followed its predecessor and broken box office records in Russia and theCentral Independent States (CIS) in record time. Distributedby Gemini Film the sequel was released on New Year's Day in Russia and hadearned $25.9m as of January 16, making ...
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Reviews
Day Watch (Dnevnoy Dozor)
Dir: Timur Bekmambetov. Russ. 2006. 135mins.A solid piece of escapist entertainment, Day Watch, the sequel to Night Watch, again demonstrates howRussia is capable of making special effects-laden fare on a par with Hollywoodproductions.While its main audienceis likely to be fans of the first film, returns at home especially will behelped ...
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News
Box office takings remain buoyant in Russia
The last week in Novemberended the fiscal year in the Russian and the Central Independent States (CIS)market, which experienced exponential growth in recent years and seems to bestabilising as key cities become saturated. According to data providedby key trade publication Russian FilmBusiness Today, total box office was $340m ($311m without ...
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News
Russian indie reveals ambitious plans after takeover
Russia's biggestindependent film company Central Partnership is promising an ambitious production programme and new studio facilities after itstakeover by Prof-Media, a subsidiary of industrial giant Interros."Most of the newfunds secured from the undisclosed deal will be invested in film production and newprojects," Central Partnership's generaldirector Ruben Dishdishian told Screen, He ...
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Moscow festival unveils competition line-up
The Moscow International Film Festival (June 17 - 26) hasunveiled its full competition programme, which includes features such as Thomas Vinterberg's Dear Wendy and Greek hit Brides.The festival now has two competition programmes: the MainCompetition section and Perspectives, which showcases directorial debuts andinnovative films.Jury members for the two competitions include ...
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News
St Petersburg to launch new international film festival
Former Kinotavr festival director MarkRudinstein is planning to launch a new international film festival in St.Petersburg, Russia, to be held in July 18 - 31, 2006.Rudinsteinhas tapped internationally known Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky to be thefestival president, a role that would have him concentrate on the festivalconcept while Rudinstein would ...
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News
Exhibition boom fuels Russian box office
Box office receipts in Russia and theCommonwealth of Independent States (CIS) are growing impressively, according tolatest figures.The winter release season (from 26 November 2004to 27 February 2005) saw a total gross of $78.5m, 42.2% higher for the periodyear-on-year, according to Russian Film Business Today.Observers say the growth is a result ...
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Reviews
Turkish Gambit (Turetskii Gambit)
Dir: Dzhanik Faiziyev.Russ. 2005. 132mins.The new epic-scaleRussian detective yarn set during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, TurkishGambit grossed $6.1m in its opening weekend, eclisping the success offantasy feature Night Watch. But despite such hallmarks of world-classshowmanship as Indiana Jones-style action, creative Amelie-like visualeffects and unique subject matter, Dzhanik Faiziyev's , ...