Russian Film Week returns to the UK in Nov 2018!

The third Annual Russian Film Week will be held on November 25 to December 2, 2018 in landmark venues across London: BFI Southbank, Regent Street Cinema, Curzon Mayfair, Empire IMAX Leicester Square as well as in Edinburgh, Cambridge and Oxford. The eight-day festival celebrates the best of new films from Russian filmmakers worldwide and promotes Russian cinema while bridging the gap between Russian cinematography and the western world. “We believe that at the time of political tensions, it’s more important than ever to build cross-cultural bridges between Russia and the UK. We need to reach across the divide and collaborate effectively on the world’s stage. This very idea – that by bringing people together we can increase global harmony and nurture peace – is the foundation on which Russian film week was built”, said Filip Perkon, Founder and General Producer of the Russian Film Week and the Golden Unicorn Awards. This year over 50 film submissions were received, ranging from historical and political dramas, art house movies, action films to documentaries and short films. Russian Film Week will be opened by Avdotya Smirnova's drama ‘Istoriya odnogo naznacheniya’ (‘The Story of an Appointment’). It collected the Gorin prize for the best script at Russia's main national film festival Kinotavr – the story is based on real life events, showing an episode from Russian literary giant Leo Tolstoy’s life. The opening night will be held at the largest screen in the UK – Empire IMAX Leicester Square. Other seasonal highlights include Kirill Serebrennikov’s biographical film ‘Leto’ (‘Summer’), awarded at Cannes Film Festival for its music, and ‘Sobibor’, Russia’s foreign-language film Oscar submission 2018. The film is the debut feature for actor-turned-director Konstantin Khabensky, starred in Hollywood films 'Wanted' (2008) and 'World War Z' (2013). ‘Sobibor’ is focused on the story of an uprising in the Sobibor Nazi extermination camp in 1943, led by Soviet officer Alexander Pechersky, played by Konstantin Khabensky. The picture also stars Christopher Lambert and Karl Frenzel. Another actor, Danila Kozlovsky, known for his roles in Hollywood’s fantasy 'Vampire Academy' (2014), BBC series 'McMafia' (2018) and numerous Russian blockbusters, will present his debut project, sports drama ‘Trener’ (‘Coach’), the Russian premiere of which was timed to the FIFA World Cup 2018.Besides the opportunity to see new Russian releases, the guests will have the chance to meet the filmmakers at Q&A sessions, masterclasses, workshops, seminars, public talks and film art exhibitions. This year will include Vladimir Mashkov, Konstantin Khabensky, Danila Kozlovsky, Avdotya Smirnova, Fedor Bondarchuk, Marina Zudina, Ivan Okhlobystin and other experts of Russian film industry. The festival culminates in the Golden Unicorn Awards ceremony designed to recognise excellence in 9 nominations, including the Best Foreign Film About Russia. The voting process reflects this cross-cultural idea of the Russian Film Week, meaning all films will be judged by an international jury under the lead of the renowned British and Hollywood actor Brian Cox. The awards ceremony is expected to be another spectacular show featuring global actors on the red carpet and Charity Gala Dinner in aid of Natalia Vodianova’s Naked Heart Foundation. Russian Film Week and the Golden Unicorn was founded in 2016 by Filip Perkon (Perkon Productions Ltd.) with a group of volunteers on a non-profit basis. From 2017 the festival is supported by the Russian Ministry of Culture, Synergy University, and the BFI.

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Golden Unicorn Awards and Russian Film Week in the UK:
Loveless becomes favorite with international jury, viewers choose Mathilde
 

10,000 viewers, 57 films, 28 venues in 3 cities. These are just the bare facts of the II Russian Film Week that has just came to its grand finale with the Golden Unicorn Awards on Saturday, November 25th and the closing ceremony with the UK premiere of Mathilde the next day.

Alexei Uchitel’s film arrived to London on a trail of huge publicity and controversy and became an indisputable winner of the Audience Choice Award. BFI’s NFT1 was sold out in a matter of hours and organisers had to set up an additional screening.

Mathilde came ahead of many favourites, such as Arrhythmia and Loveless.

Andrei Zvyagintsev’s Loveless, however, won most plaudits from the international jury. It has won the Golden Unicorn Awards in three nominations: Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Actress.

The Awards were created to recognise the achievements of Russian filmmakers and actors and also worldwide filmmakers who chose to make films about Russia, set in Russia or based on Russian literature. This reflects the cross-cultural mission of the Russian Film Week – building bridges of mutual understanding and cooperation.

The voting process reflects this cross-cultural idea: Russian films are from now on judged by an international jury, which this year included the renowned British and Hollywood actor Brian Cox, co-founder of the London Film Academy Anna McDonald, The Guardian’s Peter Bradshaw, BFI’s Head of Programming and Acquisitions Stuart Brown and others (for the complete list please go to: www.russianfilmweek.org).

“In this age of great division between Eastern and Western cultures, and the intransigence of certain political elements, the great hope is in the art, the great hope is in the creativity, - says Brian Cox, president of the jury, - The fact is, that the artists of any given culture create a unification, create a bond, that is immediately understood by all artists, and they share it. This is the antithesis of what the political climate is and that's why something like this film festival is so important to encourage. It is so important that we acknowledge it and it's important that we support it. Finally, I am very proud to have been part of it...”

Foreign films about Russia, where the action takes place in Russia, or the ones that are based on the works of Russian authors, are now judged by a separate Russian jury, which in 2017 included Viasat World CEO Irina Gofman, former President of the Republic of Kalmykia and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, film critic Olga Sherwood, Hollywood producer Alexander Shapiro.

“This is the second year running that we have our awards and it is already
well-respected and considered prestigious and we are very much grateful for the support we’ve got this year from EFG, Savills, Viasat World, Waterstones, Gazprom Marketing. I am glad that such good meaningful and powerful films from various genres were featured in the nominations, - says Filip Perkon, the festival’s General producer. - We show the best of Russian cinema. As for foreign films about
Russia, there were so many of them this year, good and exciting, that we had to create two nominations –  for features and documentaries”.

The awards ceremony was held at The Langham Ballroom and was covered by Viasat World TV1000 Russian Cinema that has recently been launched in the UK. (footage available from VIASAT free of charge)

The winners of the Golden Unicorn Awards 2017:
Best Film:
Loveless (Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Best Screenplay:
Loveless (Oleg Negin, Andrey Zvyagintsev)
Best Actor:
Aleksandr Yatsenko (Arrhythmia) 
Best Actress:
Maryana Spivak (Loveless) 
Best Emerging Talent:
Daria Zhovner (Closeness) 
Best Short Film:
The Law of Excluded Third (Alexandra Sokolovskaya)
Best Documentary:
Lake Vostok. Mountains of Madness (Ekaterina Eremenko)
Best Animation Film:
Listening to Beеthoven (Garri Bardin)
Best Foreign Film with a Russian connection:
Lady Macbeth (William Oldroyd)
Best Foreign Documentary Film:
Oleg and the Rare Arts (Andres Duque)

In 2017, which was declared the Year of Ecology in Russia, the Russian Film Week in cooperation with Synergy University, the festival’s partner and co-producer, held a special competition for the Best Student Short Film on the Theme of Ecology. Maxim Arbugaev’s film The Mushers has won the Golden Unicorn-Synergy Award in this nomination.

The special Bright Future prize sponsored by Cultural Solidarity Media was awarded to young film producer Ilya Stewart.

In 2017 a new special Golden Unicorn Award For the Contribution to World Cinema was established. Alexei Uchitel became the first recipient. The prize, in addition to the unicorn statuette, included a pair of diamond-encrusted cufflinks provided by a sponsor, the jewellery company Geraldo. "Indeed, Geraldo Jewellery creations were inspired by the historic period of the Russian empire under Tsar Nicholas II”, - says Geraldo’s Ben Kams, he praised the film Mathildeas visually stunning.

The Awards Ceremony took place at The Langham Ballroom over a gala evening with an exquisite dinner by chefs Albert and Michel Roux and was followed by a charity auction to raise funds for the WWF UK Save the Amur Tiger project.

Each year Russian Film Week partners with a specific charity organization. For the Year of Ecology WWF has become a charity partner. All the proceeds from the auction and all personal donations go directly to the foundation. A lot provided by Alexei Uchitel – an opportunity to star in film Battleproduced by him, managed to raise £12,000.

The Awards Ceremony was attended by more than 100 Russian film directors, producers and actors, including Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexey Uchitel, Valery Todorovsky. Other guests of honour were present at the ceremony: entrepreneur, Badoo’s creator Andrey Andreev, Death of Stalin scriptwriter Peter Fellows, actors Sami Naceri (film Taxi), Olga Kurylenko and many more.
Exclusive entertainment was provided by the Russian rock-legend Boris Grebenshikov and Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Polina.
The unique unicorn statuettes are Bohemian crystal glass containing 24 carat goldleaf and handmade.

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Bringing you the 2017 Golden Unicorn Award nominee shortlist! 

As you might already know, the Golden Unicorn Awards were created in celebration of the best of Russian film and foreign films about Russia, and the cross-cultural nature of the Russian Film Week. The symbol of the unicorn being relevant to both British and Russian folklore. We are so proud to be working towards building a bridge between the British and Russian cultures, especially in such a turbulent political time.

To honour the cross-cultural nature of our festival and awards, the selections have been handpicked by a brilliant international jury, which includes: Hollywood actor Brian Cox, the London Film Academy co-founder Anna MacDonald, the BFI Head of Programming Stuart Brown, and the Guardian’s chief film critic Peter Bradshaw.

We also have a separate Russian jury for the Best foreign film set in Russia category, including the Viasat World CEO Irina Gofman and ex-President of the Republic of Kalmykia and FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

"This will be the second year running that we have our awards ant it is already well-respected and considered prestigious. I am glad that such good, meaningful and powerful films from various genres are featured in the nominations," - said Filip Perkon, the festival's General producer. "We show the crème de la crème of Russian cinema, and as for foreign films about Russia, there are so many of them this year, good and exciting, that we had to create two nominations: Best Feature and Best Documentary."

It is the second year of this esteemed cross-cultural award, which will be presented at the Golden Unicorn Awards Ceremony and Gala dinner on the 25th of November televised by several TV channels including Viasat World, the home to TV1000 Russian Kino, Russia’s most popular movie channel.
We absolutely cannot wait, and hope you are just as excited as we are to not only to watch all these spectacular films, but also to find out the winners!

And now for the shortlist…

Best Film
Guppy
Loveless
Closeness
Mathilde
Space walker
Arrythmia

Best Screenplay
Guppy
Loveless
All will end soon
Closeness
Arrythmia

Best Actor
Lars Eidinger (Mathilde)
Vladimir Mishukov (Dream-fish)
Evgeniy Mironov (Spacewalk)
Aleksandr Yatsenko (Arrythmia)
Mikhail Sivorin(All will end soon)

Best Actress
Irina Gorbacheva (Arrythmia)
Nelli Popova (Guppy)
Daria Zhovner (Closeness)
Maryana Spivak (Loveless)
Anna Chipovskaya (Blockbuster)

Best Emerging Talent
Daria Zhovner (Closeness)
Lera Surkova (Pagans)
Ksenia Zueva (Nearest and Dearest)

Best Short Film
Merry-go-round
Milk
The Passenger
The First
Huh
Percent
Akado
The Law of Excluded Third

Best Documentary
Lake Vostok
24 snow
Tigers and Humans
Harmony
The Last Waltz
Bonfires and Stars

Best Animation Film
Listening to Beеthoven
Urfin Djus
The Snow Queen 3
Peter and Fevronia

Best Film About Russia
Vermelho Russo (Russian Red)
Lady Macbeth
Chronicles of Melanie
Son of Sofia
Prejudices Against Shadows
Stalin’s Couch
Polina

Best Foreign Documentary Film
A Moon of Nickel and Ice
Oleg and the Rare Arts
We'll be alright
Placebo. Alt: Russia
Soviet Hippies
1917 - the Real October

Best Student Ecology Short 
At the Edge of the World
Searching for a superb deer. Conservation Secret Runs
Garich
Change Your World
The Trap
The Mushers
My North Pole
True Superhero
Countdown
Сlean Field

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Following a successful inaugural run, Russian Film Week will be returning to London and other UK cities. Currently, the dates announced for the event are November 19-26, with the opening event to take place at the Science Museum IMAX and the closing event at BFI Southbank. Further details on the programing, additional venues, and satellite events will be announced later in September. The first Russian Film Week included a guest appearance by Russian pop icon Dima Bilan to promote his feature film "The Heritage of Love" so only time will tell what stars will attend the second one.

Watch our full press conference coverage of "The Heritage of Love" from the 2016 Russian Film Week:

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