Young Russia Nomination: Films about War, Family Values, Friendship and Forgiveness

On September 8, a press conference with the directors participating in Young Russian nomination of the competition programme of the Kazan International Muslim Film Festival was held in the press-centre. 10 films entered the nomination, some of them has been already awarded at various Russian and international festivals.

Film Strela by Yevgeny Nikitinin was presented by the co-script writer Nikolay Shishkin. He said that the idea of the film was inspired by South Park US animations. The conflict story between students was transferred to the realities of Russian schools: `This film about real and fake friendship. We wanted to make a current film, so the situations presented would be close to the feelings of its spectators` said Nikolai Shishkin.

Hawa Muhieva, a graduate of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), spoke about his thesis work entered the nomination, the film The Tree. This film shows the determining role of war for daily livelihood and souls of people, especially for children. The story of the events in the North Caucasus in the 1990-s is quite personal for Hawa Muhieva: ‘The script was written a long time ago. We were initially planning to shoot a full feature. However, I wanted to say goodbye to this story in a quick way’.

A documentary director Nasur Yurushbaev spoke about his first feature work Father's House in cooperation with an emerging director Amir Galiaskarov. He met with people in nursing houses in Russia and Germany during the filming: `There is loneliness in the eyes of these people. It is the same everywhere. The film is devoted to this current issue and attempts to share the message of not leaving your beloved at the end of their lives’.

The film Generation by a graduate of the Moscow School of Cinema Elen Nelidova, tells the story of difficult relations between a father and a son: `The story reflects the need for forgiveness, without which it is impossible to move forward to the future’.

A director Ekaterina Uvarova presented her thesis work The last sheet, which has also entered the Young Russia nomination, based on the work by O. Henry. The realities of the 19th century were transferred to the present days. The director shared her motto reflected in the film: `I believe that it is important to go forward, believe in yourself and never give up`.

The film about a conflict between couples Close Friends was presented by an organising team member of the 14^th Kazan International Muslim Film Festival, Elena Korzhaeva. She also shared her impressions on the competition programme of the festival: `I think the films selected for the competition program of the 14th edition of the festival are quite strong’.

The photo report of the event is available here