Murmansk Region to Host Northern Character: Green Screen Environmental Social Film Festival

The Northern Character: Green Screen Environmental and Social Film Festival will be taking place 23–29 May in the Murmansk region as part of Russia’s 2021–2023 chairmanship of the Arctic Council and is being operated by the Roscongress Foundation. 

Murmansk, Severomorsk, Pechenga, and Nickel will all be hosting film screenings. 28 works by Russian and foreign cinematographers will be competing along with another three films screening out of competition. Foreign participants – representatives of Norway, Sweden, Canada, China, France, Argentina and Israel – have submitted eight works for consideration by the jury.

The festival business programme includes a round table on the “Development of Small Towns and Villages in the North”. Federal and regional experts in remote territory development will come together on 24 May in the settlement of Nickel.

Chairing the festival jury is Russian actor and producer Yuri Osipov, who will be joined by Armenian director and producer Arsen Arakelyan, screenwriter, director, and actress Darya Binevskaya (Smirnova), Murmansk Regional Puppet Theater actress and Murmansk Regional Philharmonic Society artist Ekaterina Efremova, and director and producer Ivan Bolotnikov.

This will be the fifth iteration of the Northern Character: Green Screen Festival. In 2021 the event was held on 23–25 September in the border towns of Nickel, Zapolyarny, Pechenga (Russia), and Kirkenes (Norway). Representatives of seven countries: Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Armenia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan presented their works. In total, the festival screened 11 documentaries, nine short films, and eight pieces out of competition. In spite of pandemic restrictions, more than 1,800 people took part in festival events, with at least 20,000 viewers taking in the festival online. TheNorthern Character: Green Screen International Environmental and Social Film Festival Grand Prize was awarded to Muscovite director Svetlana Stasenko for her film “There Were Twelve Thieves”.

This year’s festival is being organized by the Northern Character Production Center. The forum is receiving support from the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives and the Ministry of Culture of the Murmansk Region.

The Northern Character: Green Screen Environmental and Social Film Festival is part of the cultural programme of Russia’s chairmanship of the Arctic Council. Events planned for the cultural programme include The Teriberka Arctic Festival, which will be held 16–17 July 2022 in the Murmansk region, and the 5th Arctic Cultural Forum in Salekhard in March-April 2023.

Reference Information:

Official accounts of the Russian Chairmanship of the Arctic Council:

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Twitter: twitter.com/ArcticON1

Telegram: t.me/arcticonofficial

Weibo: weibo.com/u/7728847725

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