Panel discussion at the 2007 Radonezh Festival
Moscow, 27 October 2008 (Interfax):
The 13th “Radonezh” International Festival of Films and Television Programmes opened on Monday, 27 October, with a molieben to the Wonderworking Icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir at the church of St Nicholas in Tolmachakh at the Tretyakov Gallery. As a part of the festival, today, the Chorus of the Tretyakov Gallery under the direction of Aleksei Puzakov, Honoured Artist of Russia, shall give a concert during the daytime, and, this evening, the formal opening of the festival shall take place in White Hall of the Central House of Cinema Arts, the centrepiece of the affair being a showing of the film, Nikolai II: Sorbanny Triumpf (Nikolai II: The Torn-away Triumph).
The Festival shall run until 31 October. This year, there are some 180 entrants. The competition panel selected 48 works from Australia, Bulgaria, Byelorussia, and the Ukraine, along with productions from Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan, Birobidzhan, and other Russian cities to compete for festival awards. The works showcased at the festival tell, in artistic form, about both individuals and society in their relations with family values, which are the stable foundation of the Orthodox world-view. An overriding priority of the Radonezh Festival is the search for works that deal in an artistic manner with the problems involved with the strengthening of family values and the spiritual-moral upbringing of young people, thus, giving a meaning to the events of ordinary life.
This year, the event is free and open to the general public. In particular, there are going to be free showings of films and TV programmes, master-classes are on offer, and ordinary people shall have the chance to meet producers and other figures. Amongst the most noticeable works to be shown are the cycle Planeta Pravoslaviya (Orthodox Planet) and Gallipoiskoye Stoyanie (A Stand at Gallipoli). All the major television networks in Russia are going to be represented in the competition. The festival has been in operation since 1995 with the blessing of Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia. It is also sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, the RF agencies for cinematography, press, and mass media, the Russian Union of Cameramen, and the local government of Moscow.
Interfax-Religion
http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=27078 (in Russian)
