Russia’s Kinotavr film festival announces line-up

Russia’s largest film festival Kinotavr has unveiled the programme for this year’s event with 14 feature films in the main competition, including six debuts. The Sochi-based festival will see the six up-and-coming Russian film directors compete against veteran filmmakers such as Svetlana Proskurina. Her film Truce won the main prize at Kinotavr in 2010.

The honorary prize “for artistic language, influence on world cinema, and uncompromising citizenship” has already been announced, with the award going to Alexander Sokurov, the groundbreaking director of Russian Ark, which was shot in only one take.

A short film competition, non-competitive programmes and retrospectives will also feature in the festival alongside masterclasses with directors Andrey Zvyagintsev, Matthieu Darras and Sokurov. Zvyagintsev, the jury‘s chairman and renowned director of Elena and The Return, will screen his latest film Leviathan as part of the closing ceremony.

Kinotavr was established in 1991 following a slump in Russia’s film industry and is now widely regarded as the country’s most prestigious film festival. The festival will take place from 1 to 8 June.