One of the most prestigious domestic movie forums, it mirrors a diverse palette of all the trends and genres in modern Russian cinema. When Kinotavr was first launched 23 years ago, the warm sea and the subtropical vegetation of Russia’s southernmost resort called to mind a comparison with Cannes. But for Producer Alexander Rodnyansky, Kinotavr is something completely different.
"If there is an analogue, or to be more precise a goal that we would eventually like to emulate – it’s the Sundance independent film festival in the United States. It would be ideal to have a market with distributors, theater owners and journalists on the one hand, and, of course, the authors on the other hand. They should meet and talk."
Kinotavr has long established itself as a key market for domestic movie projects. In 2007, it became the first Russian festival to pioneer pitchings, or pitch presentations of projects looking for investors. More than 320 applications from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Estonia have been filed for this year’s Kinotavr pitchings. “If a film has to do with Russia and will be in Russian, anyone is welcome to participate,” the pitchings’ curator Anna Gudkova told the Voice of Russia. Only 15 best projects have been selected for presentation.
