I hope you have a nice week! In my last blog, we discussed the situation with film festivals in London. Undoubtedly the biggest obstacles to running our festival offline are closed cinemas and bans on indoor gathering in groups due to the UK pandemic.
Moving on to our SIFFA UK film festival this year, we monitored the state of affairs in our country on a daily basis and consulted with our partners. At the moment, it is impossible to hold a film festival in the form in which we used to celebrate our culture in the UK in previous years, rolling out the Red carpet, the presentation of awards and diplomas, film screenings, master classes, creative meetings, concerts, and finally, opening and closing galas and live film screenings. That is a fact. But we will certainly return to this topic after March, since we have wonderful IRIDA awards that are waiting to be presented to recipients in Britain at our SIFFA UK ceremony.
In the meantime, we have great news. Despite all the obstacles, we will open the doors of our virtual cinema SIFFA in the UK on February 10 with the support of our partner, the Russian Embassy of the Russian Federation in the UK. February 10 marks the Day of Diplomacy in Russia and around the world. Our Russian-British Music and Film Festival can be called the most diplomatic film festival, since it was created precisely to build bridges between Russia and Great Britain, as well as the countries behind or in partnership with these two great powers through the language of cinema and music. ... This explains the decision to hold SIFFA UK film screenings this year from 10 February.
The past year taught us how to use technology that allows us to show you films, listen to concerts, conduct Q&A and creative meetings. Moreover, we have acquired our own online platform on our website. Check out, please, those who have not seen it already: http://siffarussukonline.ru/en/main-en/
Our zoom meetings will be posted on our YouTube channel: shorturl.at/avD26
This could be a good time to talk to us with representatives of Russian cinema, with unique personalities and get an idea of everything that they have on their plate for 2021, as well as talking with those who have achieved a lot in this life and can teach us self-motivation or simply inspire us.
And now a little about the program itself. Due to the pandemic, we were unable to show everything that we had planned in 2020 in the cinemas in Sochi. Therefore, I would like to give you, our dear viewers, the opportunity to watch unique films that you may not have seen before. I thank Karen Shakhnazarov, Vladimir Khotinenko, Anatoly Balchev, Natalia Ivanova for giving our viewers the opportunity to touch the great works. Among them are the Vysotsky film, rare footage and the fate of the great bard.
I also want to thank Natalia Sergeevna Bondarchuk, who will come to our virtual meeting on February 17 to tell us about her father Sergei Bondarchuk, an Oscar film director, to whom she dedicated her book. Natalya Sergeevna will talk about herself, about her childhood and work.
I thank the musicians who agreed to provide us with their unique recordings.
In short, it will be very interesting, and therefore I invite everyone to join our program. You will not necessarily get another chance to see our unique program, so plan your days so that you can spend an unforgettable time with us.
We plan Q&A for each film. Email us at sochifilmawards@gmail.com and let me know what questions you would like to ask our guests.
Watch the film festival program on our online platform: http://siffarussukonline.ru/en/main-en/
Follow our news on our website: www.siffarussuk.com
www.facebook.com/SochiFilmAwards
Instagram @sochifilmawards
@LubaBalagova
Twitter: #sochifilmawards
YouTube: shorturl.at/avD26
We thank our general media partners: Rossotrudnichestvo UK, Sochi Administration RF, Cheltenham Twinning Association UK, Ministry of Culture RF, FABUK Magazine, VGTRK-VESTI, Sochi RF; Filmfestivals.com