Odessa International Film Festival
Encyclopedia
The Odessa International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in the middle of the July in Odessa
, Ukraine
. It was held for the first time July 16th – 24th, 2010.
The festival is young. However, the organizers set before themselves a rather ambitious goal: to develop it into one of the leading film forums in Eastern Europe – The Cannes of Eastern Europe.
The first festival was attended by over 40 thousand audience members. In the following year, this number increased almost by a factor of 2 – over 70 thousand viewers attended and over 5 thousand guests graced the festival with their presence. Over 450 journalists from Ukraine
, Russia
, Germany
, USA, Romania
, Italy
and other countries received festival accreditation.
The festival also includes a dynamic special project entitled Summer Film School): a series of master-classes, taught by noted festival guests to film students and general film fans.
During the second festival
a new project was added to the Summer Film School – a “script Workshop” - a series of workshops and seminars for a select group of screenwriters chosen by a strict selection process. New opportunities for film professionals also arose in the second year of the Odessa Film Festivals – a film market and a pitching contest.
In 2011, on its closing day, the festival received a high recognition form one of the leading press associations in the world – the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
(the producers of the Golden Globes.) Gabriel Lerman, representative of HFPA delivered the honorary token to the festival.
The third OIFF is scheduled for July 13-21, 2012.
Films for the competition are chosen by a selection committee headed by the festival program director. The central focus of the festival, as set forth by the selection committee, is the presence in all chosen films of a strong, unique, conceptual sense of humor in its various forms.
In 2011, a number of parallel juries functioned alongside the primary international jury. The FICC (International film Association Federation) jury awarded the “Don Quixote” prize, followed by a National Film Critics jury, “Ukrainian laboratory” jury (awarding the “Nikolay Shustov” prize,) and the pitching jury (awarding a prize for a new Ukrainian project.)
in 1988.
The jury presents prizes in the following categories:
• Grand Pris of the festival for the winning film – The Golden Duke (along with a monetary award of 15,000 US dollars to the director)
• Best Director – monetary award of 10,000 US dollars to the director.
• Best Actor/Actress - award of 10,000 US dollars to the actor/actress.
The jury may also award two additional prizes:
• Special Jury Mention
• Viewers’ Choice Award – the organizers of the festival hold audience balloting in order to determine the recipient of this award.
Starting in 2011, alongside the main festival prizes, the festival also awards a “Don Qixote” prize (awarded by the International film Association Federation), the National Film Critics’ prize, the “Nikolay Shustov” prize (awarded for the best Ukrainian film awarded by the “Ukrainian Laboratory” jury,) and a Best Project prize (awarded to the wonder of the pitching contest.)
Perhaps the most noted of all festival events are its open-air screenings on the Petemkin Steps which transforms into a screening venue for one festival evening. During the first OIFF, crowds of viewers marveled at Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece “Battleship Potemkin” with the accompaniment of a live symphonic orchestra. This grand affair set the tone for later festival open-air events. In 2011, the Potemkin Steps, again will a full symphonic orchestra, welcomed Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece “Metropolis” for which over two thousand viewers assembled on the stair.
The second OIFF gave the audiences another open-air venue – The Langeronovskiy Descent, where nightly films were screened for audiences underneath the night sky.
During the daytime, the U-Cinema Theater on the property of the Odessa Film Studio
, serves as a forum for master-classes organized for the members of the Summer Film School. Lectures and discussions are led by world cinema industry professionals - guests of the festival. In the evenings, this and other theaters serve as screening venues for the festival program. In the later evenings, members of the Summer School participate in parties and other festivities.
In the course of the first Odessa Film Festival master classes were given by Hollywood actors Rutger Hauer аnd John Malkovich
; directors Krzysztof Zanussi
, Otar Ioseliani, Vadim Perelman
, Kira Muratova
, Jos Stelling
. and Aleksander Mitta; actor Jerzy Stuhr
, film connoisseur Naum Kleiman and others .
The Summer Film School students were eligible for discount tickets to all festival screenings as well as lodging in the festival tent-city on a separate property near the Odessa Film Studio. During the nighttime hours, DJ parties and other events were organized.
The venues offer varied and exciting entertainment from elite jazz evenings to public concerts of popular bands and DJs. Entrance to festival parties is free to all holders of OIFF badges.
2010- Grand Prix of the Festival - "Golden Duke" for the Best film - "Minors under 16... ", directed by Andrey Kavun
(
Russia).
2011- Grand Prix of the Festival - "Golden Duke" for the Best film - "Tomboy"
(Dir. Céline Sciamma,
Early Modern France) .
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
. It was held for the first time July 16th – 24th, 2010.
The festival is young. However, the organizers set before themselves a rather ambitious goal: to develop it into one of the leading film forums in Eastern Europe – The Cannes of Eastern Europe.
History
The first Odessa International Film Festival was held from the 16th to the 24th of July, 2010. It offered to its audiences a competition program of 16 films and over 50 films out of competition. The “Rodina” theater served as the main venue for the festival as well as the festival center. It screened all films in the competition program as well as hosting special festival events. Other screening took place all around Odessa in many city theaters. One of the most outstanding architectural monuments in all of Ukraine, the Odessa Opera and Ballet Theater, served as the venue for the opening and closing festival ceremonies.The first festival was attended by over 40 thousand audience members. In the following year, this number increased almost by a factor of 2 – over 70 thousand viewers attended and over 5 thousand guests graced the festival with their presence. Over 450 journalists from Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, USA, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and other countries received festival accreditation.
The festival also includes a dynamic special project entitled Summer Film School): a series of master-classes, taught by noted festival guests to film students and general film fans.
During the second festival
2nd Odessa International Film Festival
The second Odessa International Film Festival took place in Odessa from the 15th to the 23rd of July, 2011.71 films were screened at the festival, and the total number of audience members was tallied at over 70 thousand...
a new project was added to the Summer Film School – a “script Workshop” - a series of workshops and seminars for a select group of screenwriters chosen by a strict selection process. New opportunities for film professionals also arose in the second year of the Odessa Film Festivals – a film market and a pitching contest.
In 2011, on its closing day, the festival received a high recognition form one of the leading press associations in the world – the Hollywood Foreign Press Association
Hollywood Foreign Press Association
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is an organization composed of working journalists who cover the United States film industry for a variety of outlets, including newspapers and magazines in Europe, Asia, Australia and Latin America. Today, the 90 members of the HFPA represent at least 55...
(the producers of the Golden Globes.) Gabriel Lerman, representative of HFPA delivered the honorary token to the festival.
The third OIFF is scheduled for July 13-21, 2012.
Competitive Program
The festival competition includes 14 feature-length films. The films chosen for the competition are ones which were filmed since January 1 of the previous year and which have not premiered in Ukraine. All pictures are submitted on 35mm film or DCP.Films for the competition are chosen by a selection committee headed by the festival program director. The central focus of the festival, as set forth by the selection committee, is the presence in all chosen films of a strong, unique, conceptual sense of humor in its various forms.
Jury
The Jury of the Odessa International Film Festival is made up of noted figures in areas of culture and the arts, noted film critics, directors and producers from around the world. The numbers and makeup of the jury is decided by the board of directors of the festival.In 2011, a number of parallel juries functioned alongside the primary international jury. The FICC (International film Association Federation) jury awarded the “Don Quixote” prize, followed by a National Film Critics jury, “Ukrainian laboratory” jury (awarding the “Nikolay Shustov” prize,) and the pitching jury (awarding a prize for a new Ukrainian project.)
Prizes
The films in the competitive program contend for the main festival prize – “The Golden Duke” – an updated version of a prize by the same name created by a noted Odessa sculptor Mikhail Reva for the once noteworthy film festival held in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in 1988.
The jury presents prizes in the following categories:
• Grand Pris of the festival for the winning film – The Golden Duke (along with a monetary award of 15,000 US dollars to the director)
• Best Director – monetary award of 10,000 US dollars to the director.
• Best Actor/Actress - award of 10,000 US dollars to the actor/actress.
The jury may also award two additional prizes:
• Special Jury Mention
• Viewers’ Choice Award – the organizers of the festival hold audience balloting in order to determine the recipient of this award.
Starting in 2011, alongside the main festival prizes, the festival also awards a “Don Qixote” prize (awarded by the International film Association Federation), the National Film Critics’ prize, the “Nikolay Shustov” prize (awarded for the best Ukrainian film awarded by the “Ukrainian Laboratory” jury,) and a Best Project prize (awarded to the wonder of the pitching contest.)
Non-competitive Program
The non-competitive program follows a structure familiar to many film events – a “Festival of Festivals”. The films screened include the latest hits of world festivals, retrospectives and exclusive premieres of the more noteworthy works of film art shown in the category of “Special Screenings.” This portion of the program also includes screenings of works of national cinematography (“The French Panorama” and “New Russian Cinema.”)Perhaps the most noted of all festival events are its open-air screenings on the Petemkin Steps which transforms into a screening venue for one festival evening. During the first OIFF, crowds of viewers marveled at Sergei Eisenstein’s masterpiece “Battleship Potemkin” with the accompaniment of a live symphonic orchestra. This grand affair set the tone for later festival open-air events. In 2011, the Potemkin Steps, again will a full symphonic orchestra, welcomed Fritz Lang’s 1927 masterpiece “Metropolis” for which over two thousand viewers assembled on the stair.
The second OIFF gave the audiences another open-air venue – The Langeronovskiy Descent, where nightly films were screened for audiences underneath the night sky.
Summer Film School
The Summer Film School program was established for students of film schools and other types of learning establishments who consider themselves lovers of the film arts.During the daytime, the U-Cinema Theater on the property of the Odessa Film Studio
Odessa Film Studio
Odessa Film Studio is a Ukrainian film studio in Odessa. It is partially owned by a government and supervised by the Department of State property fund of Ukraine together with the Ministry of Culture. Together with Dovzhenko Film Studios they are the only state-owned and major film producers in...
, serves as a forum for master-classes organized for the members of the Summer Film School. Lectures and discussions are led by world cinema industry professionals - guests of the festival. In the evenings, this and other theaters serve as screening venues for the festival program. In the later evenings, members of the Summer School participate in parties and other festivities.
In the course of the first Odessa Film Festival master classes were given by Hollywood actors Rutger Hauer аnd John Malkovich
John Malkovich
John Gavin Malkovich is an American actor, producer, director and fashion designer with his label Technobohemian. Over the last 25 years of his career, Malkovich has appeared in more than 70 motion pictures. For his roles in Places in the Heart and In the Line of Fire, he received Academy Award...
; directors Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi
Krzysztof Zanussi, is a Polish producer and film director.He is a professor of European film at the European Graduate School in Saas-Fee, Switzerland where he conducts a summer workshop...
, Otar Ioseliani, Vadim Perelman
Vadim Perelman
Vadim Perelman is a Ukrainian-American film director. Perelman made his feature film directorial debut in 2003 with House of Sand and Fog, following a successful career as a commercial director. The film, nominated for three Academy Awards, also marks his first screenplay credit...
, Kira Muratova
Kira Muratova
Kira Muratova is a Soviet and Ukrainian film director, screenwriter and actress. She was born in 1934 in Soroca, Bessarabia, Romania . She was born to a Romanian mother and a Russian father. Muratova is known for her unusual and original directorial style...
, Jos Stelling
Jos Stelling
Jos Stelling is a Dutch film director and screenwriter. He has directed 12 films, and is working on his new film The Girl and Death, in which Dutch actress Sylvia Hoeks will play the lead role....
. and Aleksander Mitta; actor Jerzy Stuhr
Jerzy Stuhr
Jerzy Stuhr is one of the most popular, influential and versatile Polish actors. He also works as a screenwriter, film director and drama professor...
, film connoisseur Naum Kleiman and others .
The Summer Film School students were eligible for discount tickets to all festival screenings as well as lodging in the festival tent-city on a separate property near the Odessa Film Studio. During the nighttime hours, DJ parties and other events were organized.
Evening Parties
Vibrant evening parties serve as conclusions to busy OIFF days. These parties are held at beach clubs on the Odessa seacoast or restaurants. These events present opportunities for informal mingling between festival participants and the enjoyment of various shows and presentations.The venues offer varied and exciting entertainment from elite jazz evenings to public concerts of popular bands and DJs. Entrance to festival parties is free to all holders of OIFF badges.
Winners
Winners of the Odessa International Film Festival2010- Grand Prix of the Festival - "Golden Duke" for the Best film - "Minors under 16... ", directed by Andrey Kavun
Andrey Kavun
Andrey Kavun is a Russian film director and screenwriter of Ukrainian origin, notable for historical drama film Kandahar .- Filmography :- External links and sources :*...
(
Russia).2011- Grand Prix of the Festival - "Golden Duke" for the Best film - "Tomboy"
Tomboy (2011 film)
Tomboy is a 2011 French film directed by Céline Sciamma. It tells the story of a 10-year-old girl who, after moving to a new place, has all her new acquaintances believe she is a boy. The film opened to critical acclaim, with many critics praising the directing as well as the acting.-Plot:Laure ,...
(Dir. Céline Sciamma,
Early Modern France) .