38th Molodist International Film Festival

The Kyiv International Film Festival – Molodist celebrated its 38th edition from the 18th until the 26th October with a selection of more than 300 productions coming from more than 40, mostly European, countries. Molodist has become an all-Ukrainian highlight – an important public event, introducing new cinematic tendencies and new talents (eg. Francois Ozon was invited to present his very first short film in the student film section), as well as reflecting on social change. The program ‘Cinema Against Totalitarianism’, for example, revealed the gradual engagement of various democratic processes since the fall of communism.                

The competition was divided into three sections: first or second feature-length films (13 contestants), short films (22) and student films (22). After a hiatus of a few years, the reinstatement of Best Film Award in the ‘Sunny Bunny’ section should be understood as a political message. Some Molodist films seemed intentionally selected to promote tolerance, because tolerance in Ukrainian society has been in decline for some time now.            

The section ‘Festival of Festivals’ presented eight films, awarded at the world’s most prestigious film festivals in 2008. Among the various other sections were ‘Panorama of Ukrainian Cinema 2007-08’, ‘French Cinema Today’, ‘Serbian New Wave’ and retrospectives dedicated to André Delvaux and Jeanne Moreau. In addition to film screenings, filmmakers and experts were invited to the ‘Film Boat Meetings’, where producers could seek co-producers and financing.            

This year, the festival witnessed a leap in audience interest – from 50.000 tickets sold in the years before to the anticipated number of 90.000 in 2008. Most viewers were young adults aged 25-30 with university degrees. The media coverage has also been steadily increasing: 300 Ukrainian and foreign journalists were accredited in 2008. International guests were accommodated on the famous festival boat, which was also the location of the festival’s nightlife. (France Hatron, Thomas Taborsky, Dimitar Kabaivanov)

Molodist International Film Festival: www.molodist.com