No room for Russian films at Moscow festival

The Moscow International Film Festival, which runs June 21-30, has come under criticism in the local press with the announcement of a competition line-up this year without any Russian entry. Sergei Bodrov's US-produced English language entry The Quickie, starring Russian actor Vladimir Mashkov, should however go some way towards satisfying Muscovite audiences hungry for home-grown stars. International guests expected to attend include Jack Nicholson, Sean Penn and Dennis Hopper.

Yevgenia Tirdatova, member of the festival programme selection committee, said: "The other major 'A' category festivals had already taken the best Russian productions of the year. Cannes snapped up Sokurov's Taurus for example. There were just no other Russian films remaining that the selection committee thought were up to our standards."

Despite the absence of a Russian entry, the festival's competition still skewed more heavily towards Eastern Europe than most other international events, with films from Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland represented in the programme.

Foreign visitors and local audiences will however still be able to see the latest Russian productions which will be showcased in the Russian Programme, which will screen most of the films produced locally over the past year.

Competition

PEONY PAVILION (YOUYUAN JINGMENG)

Dir: Yonfan, Hong Kong

CALMNESS (SHANTHAM)

Dir: Jayaraj, India

QUICKIE

Dir: Sergei Bodrov, US

DETECTOR (DETEKTOR)

Dir: Pal Jackman, Norway

WILD MUSSELS (WILDE MOSSELS)

Dir: Erik de Bruyn, The Netherlands

VICTIMS AND MURDERERS (OBETI A VRAZI)

Dir: Daniel Zavork, Czech Republic

MADEMOISELLE

Dir: Philippe Lioret, France

INHERITANCE (HERENCIA)

Dir: Paula Hernandez, Argentina

UNFAIR COMPETITION (CONCORENZA SLEALE)

Dir: Ettore Scola, Italy

KEEP AWAY FROM THE WINDOW (DALEKO OD OKNA)

Dir: Jan Jakub Kolski, Poland

UNDER THE SKIN OF THE CITY (ZIR-E POOST-E SHAHR)

Dir: Rakhshan Bani Etemad, Iran

MY SWEET (MI DULCE)

Dir: Jesus Mora, Spain

REAL FICTION (SHILJE SANGHWANG)

Dir: Kim Ki Duk, Republic of Korea

BLINDGUYS (VAKVAGANYOK)

Dir: Peter Timar, Hungary

WINGS OF GLASS (VINGAR AV GLAS)

Dir: Reza Bagher, Sweden

THE BELIEVER

Dir: Henry Bean, US

LOVE STORY BY TEA

Dir: Jin Chen, China

Great Expectations

GIRLFIGHT

Dir: Karyn Kusama, US

ALASKA.DE

Dir: Esther Gronenborn, Germany

ENGLAND

Dir: Achim von Borries, Germany

MAELSTROM

Dir: Denis Villeneuve, Canada

LOVE/JUICE

Dir: Shindo Kaze, Japan

MONKEY'S MASK

Dir: Samantha Lang, Australia

JUMP TOMORROW

Dir: Joel Hopkins, US/UK

COMPASSIONATE SEX (SEXO POR COMPASION)

Dir: Laura Mana, Spain

TOO MUCH FLESH

Dirs: Jean-Marc Barr & Pascal Arnold, France

8 1/2 films

TOGETHER (TILLSAMMANS)

Dir: Lukas Moodysson, Sweden

BAMBOOZLED

Dir: Spike Lee, US

STARDOM

Dir: Denys Arcand, Canada

A PLACE ON EARTH

Dir: Artur Aristakisjan, Russia

THE SEA THAT THINKS (DE ZEE DIE DENKT)

Dir: Gert de Graaff, The Netherlands

DOLCE

Dir: Aleksandr Sokurov, Russia

SALAAM CINEMA

Dir: Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Iran

THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE

Dir: Joel Coen, US

New Europe

IN JULY (IM JULI)

Dir: Fatih Akin, Germany

LOST KILLERS

Dir: Dito Tsintsadze, Germany

MY SWEET HOME

Dir: Filippos Tsitos, Germany

FOREIGN FIELDS (PA FREMMED MARK)

Dir: Aage Rais, Denmark

THE NEW COUNTRY (DET NYA LANDET)

Dir: Geir Hansteen Jorgensen, Sweden

PASZPORT (PASSPORT)

Dir: Peter Gothar, Hungary

LA FAUTE A VOLTAIRE

Dir: Abdel Kechiche, France

LAST RESORT

Dir: Paul Pavlikovsky, UK

ROOM TO RENT

Dir: Khaled El Hagar, UK

National Hits

DREAM CAR (MESEAUTO)

Dir: Barna Kabay, Hungary

THE FUGITIVES (FUGITIVAS)

Dir: Miguel Hermoso, Spain

MOHABATTEN

JALLA! JALLA!

Dir: Josef Fares, Sweden

THE TREATMENT (GUA SHA)

Dir: Zheng Xiaolong, China

SHERINA'S ADVENTURE (PETUALANGAN SHERINA)

Dir: Riri Riza, Indonesia

RISOTTO

Dir: Olga Malea, Greece

THE ROSE OF THE RASCAL (RENTUN RUUSU)

Dir: Timo Koivusalo, Finland

TEARS (NUNMUL)

Dir: Im Sang-soo, Republic of Korea

WHITEOUT

Dir: Setsurou Wakamatsu, Japan

HOLY TONGUE (LA LINGUA DEL SANTO)

Dir: Carlo Mazzacurati, Italy

Socialist Realism: Past and Present

RIOT IN GUJO (GUJYO-IKKI)

Dir: Seijiro Kohyama, Japan

HUMAN RESOURCES (RESSOURCES HUMAINES)

Dir: Laurent Cantet, France

COMPENSATION (ASWESUMA)

Dir: Bennett Rathnayake, Sri Lanka

LIAM

Dir: Stephen Frears, UK

THE UNDEFEATED

Dir: Oles Yanchuk, Ukraine

ONE OF THE HOLLYWOOD TEN

Dir: Karl Francis, US

DANCER IN THE DARK

Dir: Lars von Trier, Denmark

Korean Peninsula in the mirror of the screen

RACING TO CROWN (DALLJOSO HANULKAZI)

Dir: Li Zhu Ho, North Korea

SOULS PROTEST (SARA INNUN RJONHONDUR)

Dir: Kim Chkhun Son, North Korea

AFFECTION-PERMEATED LAND (SARANI DEZI)

Dir: Li Gvan Am, North Korea

THE END OF THE CENTURY (SEGIMAL)

Dir: Song Neung-Han, Republic of Korea

THE LEGEND OF GINKO

Dir: Le-Hyun Park, Republic of Korea

ON THE GREEN CARPET (PUM ZUDAN UESO)

Dir: Rim Chkhan Bom, North Korea

PHANTOM: THE SUBMARINE

Dir: Min Byung-chun, Republic of Korea

STALKS GROW FROM THE ROOTS (ZHUN GINUN PURJESO ZARANDA)

Dir: Kim Chkhun Son, North Korea

HONG KIL DONG

Dir: Kim Kil In, North Korea

Dangerous Liaisons

THE FLUTTER

Dir: Richard Glatzer, US

THE MAP OF SEX AND LOVE (QUINGSE DITU)

Dir: Evans Chan, Hong Kong

LA BELLE

Dir: Le Kuvn-Dong, Republic of Korea

SADE

Dir: Benoit Jacquot, France

THE PORNOGRAPHER (LE PORNOGRAPHE)

Dir: Bertrand Bonello, France

THE MOST FERTILE MAN IN IRELAND</