Representatives of Eight Countries Showcase Their Works at ‘Northern Character: Green Screen’ International Festival of Ecological and Social Cinema

The Murmansk Region played host to the ‘Northern Character: Green Screen’ International Festival of Ecological and Social Cinema on 25–29 May as part of the main events of Russia’s chairmanship in the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. The events are being organized by the Roscongress Foundation.

Film screenings were held in Murmansk, Severomorsk, Pechenga, Nikel, and Zapolyarny. The competition featured 28 works by Russian and foreign filmmakers, while seven more films were presented at the festival outside of the competition. Representatives of Norway, Sweden, Canada, China, France, Argentina, and Israel submitted eight works to the organizers of the International Festival of Ecological and Social Cinema.

The Grand Prix of the festival was awarded to the Russian documentary film Baikal. The Amazing Adventures of Yuma (Krasny Kvadrat LLC) directed by Anastasia Popova. The film tells the life story of a small seal named Yuma, whom the audience sees grow from birth to its first trip to the Ushkany Islands. The film lets viewers see Baikal and its inhabitants through the eyes of the main character, learn the history of the lake, and get to know all its inhabitants.

“The film was shot in the Irkutsk Region and the Republic of Buryatia in the Far East. It’s delightful there! We continue to develop scientific and educational films about our Motherland. We are getting ready to shoot a similarly major film about the Russian North and the modern Russian Arctic! It will be a film about the beauties of the Russian North, its unique natural features, and the unyielding Russian northern spirit! Olga Stefanova, who has taken part in seven polar expeditions, will direct the film,” Krasny Kvadrat Media Group CEO Ilya Krivitsky said.

The competition’s panel of judges awarded the prize for the best short feature film to a film from Israel called Dead Sea, which was directed by Nahd Bashir. The film tells the real story of an autistic Palestinian who travelled with his paralyzed sister to the Dead Sea for sea water treatment. The film King of the Hill by Russian directors Masha Lind (Kosobokova) and Daria Khrenova about musicians from the Ecology of Thought group won the nomination for best documentary film. The festival’s audience gave the highest marks to Vladimir Marin’s film A Short Guide to the Education of Seals.

The panel included Daria Binevskaya (Smirnova) (Russia), Arsen Arakelyan (Armenia), Yekaterina Yefremova (Russia), and Ivan Bolotnikov (Russia). The group of experts was headed by Russian cinematographer Yury Osipov.

The ‘Northern Character: Green Screen’ festival was held for the fifth time. In 2021, the event was held on 23–25 September in Russian-Norwegian border cities – Nikel, Zapolyarny, Pechenga (Russia), and Kirkenes (Norway). Representatives of seven countries showcased their works at the festival: Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. The film presentations included 11 documentaries, nine short films, as well as eight films that were shown outside of the competition. Over 1,800 people took part in the in-person format given the pandemic restrictions, although there were at least 20,000 online viewers. The Grand Prix of the ‘Northern Character: Green Screen’ International Festival of Ecological and Social Cinema in 2021 was awarded to Russian director Svetlana Stasenko from Moscow for her film The Legend of the Twelve Thieves.

This year, the festival is being organized by Northern Character Producer Centre. The forum is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and the Ministry of Culture of the Murmansk Region.

The ‘Northern Character: Green Screen’ International Festival of Ecological and Social Cinema is part of the cultural programme of Russia’s chairmanship in the Arctic Council in 2021–2023. The cultural programme also includes the Teriberka Arctic Festival, which will be held on 16–17 July 2022 in the Murmansk Region, and the 5th Arctic Cultural Forum in Salekhard in March–April 2023.

Reference information:

Official social media accounts of Russia’s chairmanship in the Arctic Council:

VKontakte: vk.com/arctic_on

Twitter: twitter.com/ArcticON1

Telegram: t.me/arcticonofficial

Weibo: weibo.com/u/7728847725

WeChat ID: arcticonofficial