28th Moscow International Film Festival

In its past, still under Soviet rule, the Moscow International Film Festival always showed a special interest in the cinematographies of Third World countries. In its last decade and under its president Nikita Mikhalkov, it has changed its face and became a real international event, open for all kinds of world cinema. Films by Robert Towne, Bertrand Blier, Raoul Ruiz, István Szábo were, among others, invited to participate in competition.
Paradoxically, the critics forming the FIPRESCI jury awarded their prize to a film coming from a Third World country, the Philippines, The Bet Collector by Jeffrey Jeturian. It’s the portrayal of an aging bet collector. She clings to the job she has known for more than twenty years, is taken by the police, returns the next morning to the street and continues her clandestine activity. This portrayal is embedded in a view on everyday life, on the Philippines — country, nevertheless, with a considerable cinema tradition.