The cinema of moral anxiety: what films are the audience of the “Altyn minbar” film festival to see

The press conference dedicated to the XX “Altyn minbar” Kazan International Film Festival was held in Tatar-Inform.

The Head of Department of Networking, International, and Interregional Cooperation of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Victoria Dautova reminded that 2024 in Russia was declared as the Year of Family.

“More than that, this year we are celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Tatarstan cinematography, so there will be many events dedicated to this within the festival,” she said.

All films dedicated to this topic will be screened within a non-competition program named “The 100^th Anniversary of the Tatarstan Cinema.” The audience will be introduced to a retrospective of feature films, starting with the newest ones, as well as documentaries about prominent figures in Tatar culture.

Victoria Dautova also paid attention to the fact that the festival returned to its original name “Altyn minbar”.

The executive director of Tatarkino Miliausha Aituganova also assured that the change in name would not have any impact on the concept of the festival.

She pointed out that for the first three years of its existence, the festival was called “Altyn minbar”. And today, there is absolutely no contradiction with the film project concept that has been developed over the past two decades. The festival content correlates to the festival requirements built into the regulations.

 Miliausha Aituganova emphasized that the name itself reflects the traditions and values established by the festival. Thus, in the broad sense “altyn” means “excellent”, and “minbar” means “a pulpit for preaching in the mosque”.

But there are some changes in the organizational part of the film project: from this year on, the official selection screenings will be chargeable. The organizing committee did this in order to prevent turmoil at the venues. The ticket price will not be more than 200 rubles.

For the audience's comfort, the official selection films will be screened over the weekend of September 7 and 8. This year, the screenings will be held at two venues, the “Almaz Cinema” and “Mir” theaters.

Q&A sessions with the representatives of different countries will also be charged.

But active large families and families celebrating their anniversary will get free tickets for the official selection screenings. The action is not only for Kazan residents but also for the entire republic.

The spokespersons also noted that among the jury members there are representatives from Russia, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, India, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan.

The chairman of the jury is the director of “Resurrection: Ertuğrul” and “Kurulus: Osman,” Metin Gunay (Türkiye). It is expected that along with him, the popular actors who starred in the “Muhtesem Yüzyil” and “Resurrection: Ertuğrul” TV series will attend the festival. Q&A sessions will be held with them.

As Miliausha Aituganova noted, 141 films in total will be presented at the festival.

The official selection includes 51 films from 27 countries. According to the chairman of the selection committee, Nina Kochelyaeva, the films are various, but all are related to the “cinema of moral anxiety” formulation.

“This genre emerged during the “thaw” in our country in the times of the so-called new waves of European cinema. Today, such films are gaining popularity as people find themselves in different circumstances in which it is crucial not to lose human face and follow moral and ethical principles”, she said.

She also noted a significant growth in the quality of Tatarstan cinema products, which influenced the expansion of the “National Competition” nomination up to 11 films. N. Kochelyaeva emphasized the Tatarstan film “The Mountain of Lovers” by Salavat Yuzeev, which is included in the feature film nomination and is not inferior in quality to world-class films.

The Consul General of the Republic of Kazakhstan in Kazan, Yerlan Iskakov, said that there is a fruitful cooperation in the field of cinema, and Kazakhstan films are included in the official selection and non-competition program.

“This is a bright example of Kazakhstan and Tatarstan cooperation not only in the trade and economic fields but also in the cultural and humanitarian fields as well. As in previous years, we will try to enrich the festival program. For instance, there will be a day of Kazakhstan cinema when “Swarthy Girl” by Talgat Temenov and “Horse Thieves: The Roads of Time” by Yerlan Nurmukhambetov and Lisa Takeba (Japan) will be shown”, he promised.

Miliausha Aituganova also reminded us that apart from screenings, the festival traditionally includes a vast business program, which will be held in the Kazan State Institute of Culture. Also, representatives of large cinema networks in turkic countries are invited to the regional film market.

“We want Russian and Tatarstan products to be presented at the markets of these countries and their films to be screened in Russian cinemas”, she said.

More than that, the International Pitching of Film Projects' main idea of which is to make joint films with Tatarstan directors and actors or shoot on the territory of the republic.

Those willing to attend workshops dedicated to the film production can join these too. The workshops will be conducted by Indian, Egyptian and Malaysian cinematographers. They will take place on September 9 and 11.

The business platform will be enhanced by the research and practice conference “The World Trends in Cinematography,” where the participants will present their reports. It is planned to be conducted at the “Kazan Expo” along with the “Kazan Digital Week.”

Victoria Davutova also added that the closing ceremony of the festival will take place in the Kamal Theatre. The tickets are available for sale on the festival website.

As for the opening of the festival, Miliausha Aituganova reminded me that it has a close character. But the audience will have the opportunity to see the guests on the red carpet and take photos with them in the special photo zone.

The XX “Altyn minbar” Kazan International Film Festival will take place on September 6 to 11, 2024.

We would like to emphasize that “Altyn Minbar” is included in the list of film projects supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. The Kazan International Film Festival is held with the support of the Rais of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam Minnikhanov, the Ministry of Culture of Russia, and in partnership with the strategic vision group “Russia-Islamic World.”