Reception of applications for Kazan International Muslim Film Festival is announced

Reception of applications for the XVIII Kazan International Muslim Film Festival starts January 1, 2022. Reception of applications will last till June 1, 2022. KIMFF-2022 will be held in Kazan from September 7 to11 with the support of the president of the Republic of Tatarstan, Rustam Minnikhanov, in partnership with the strategic vision group “Russia – Islamic world”.

According to the Regulations of KIMFF-2022 those willing to submit their film for participation in the festival should officially inform the Directorate no later than June 1, 2022. The Selecting committee finishes its work by the beginning of July after which the competition program will be announced. The Selection committee board, compared to the previous year’s, has not changed, they are – the Kazakh film expert and critic, the President of Film critics Association of Kazakhstan Gulnara Abikeeva, Doctor of Philosophy and History of Art, film expert, author of articles and publications on culture and cinema of Central Asia and Turkey, CEO of “Eurasia Global Connecting” agency Svetlana Slapke (Germany) and historian, culture expert, director of the New Institute of Cultural studies Nina Kochelyaeva (Russia).

Full-length and short feature films, as well as short and full-length documentaries can participate in the competition program of the Kazan film festival. The competition program includes Russian and foreign films, selected by the committee, reflecting universal spiritual and moral values and cultural traditions, conveying the ideas of peacemaking, religious tolerance and humanism.

Apart from the competition program the audience can expect an extended out-of-competition and parallel programs. Out-of-competition program presents the best examples of Russian foreign feature, documentary and animated films, retrospective and thematic programs.

As the executive director of Kazan International Muslim Film Festival Milyausha Aituganova has told, the main focus of the upcoming festival will be on a significant for date Muslims of Russia – the 1100^th anniversary of Islam adoption by Volga Bulgaria. The viewers will see a selection of ethnic films, which will be formed by film critic Sergey Anashkin. More than that, the tradition of holding thematic round tables with the participation of representatives of Russian and foreign film schools, started in 2019, will go on. The participants will discuss a relevant topic “Cinema and education: international experience”.

The pitching of film projects, which started in 2019, will continue its work, as well as Regional Film Market, which became a name card of the previous festival.

Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema has been held in the Republic of Tatarstan since 2005. The first Festival was arranged on the initiative of the Council of Muftis of Russia, the Federal Agency for Culture and Cinematography of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of culture of the Republic of Tatarstan with the support of the president of the Republic of Tatarstan.

The founders of the festival are the Ministry of culture of the Republic of Tatarstan, Centralized Muslim Religious Organization Council of Muftis of Russia, Executive committee of the municipal education of Kazan. The organizer of the festival is “Tatarkino” in partnership with the Regional department of the all-Russia Public organization “The cinematographers union” of the Republic of Tatarstan.

Over the course of its existence the Festival has acquired the status of a prestigious cinematographers’ forum, has become an essential attribute of the cultural life of Kazan, the event that contributes to strengthening the image of Kazan as a cultural capital. Kazan International Muslim Film Festival is held under the motto “Through the dialogue of cultures to the culture of dialogue”.