34th Moscow International Film Festival

34th Moscow International Film Festival. In its 34th year, the traditional and highly prestigious Moscow International Film Festival is still Russia’s main cinematic event and its only ‘A’ category film festival. Stars like Helen Mirren and Catherine Deneuve attended the festival. In the competition section we could find well-known international filmmakers such as Academy Award-winning Hungarian director István Szabó and Turkish born Italian Ferzan Özpetek. The eclectic competition section contained 19 movies including a Spanish 3D animation movie (O Apostolo by Fernando Cortizo) and also a traditional Russian historical drama (The Horde (Orda) by Andrei Proshkin). Aside from the main section, there was an interesting retrospective section including tributes to Brazil director Hector Babenco (who was the chairman of the grand jury this year in Moscow) and Ernst Lubitsch. The Special Program of German cinema (10 Decades Of German Cinema) was simply amazing and not just for cinephiles. Our jury judged the official competition selection and the FIPRESCI prize was awarded to Italian A.C.A.B. – All Cops Are Bastards directed by Stefano Sollima. The film is about controversial Italian riot cops who we can see in action and off duty. The jury praised it for the contemporary issues it addresses with such objectivity. A.C.A.B. successfully balanced the different sides and was able to keep distance from its subject, without becoming manipulative. It has an outlook not confined to Italy as other countries are also suffering similar conflicts. A.C.A.B. has a hyperrealist style, with exceptional use of handheld camera. It could be a coincidence, but it’s remarkable that the Russian film critics also awarded A.C.A.B. (György Kárpáti)

Moscow International Film Festival: www.moscowfilmfestival.ru