Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Gazprom – An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
The closing ceremony of the 24th International Spirit of Fire Festival took place at the Yugra-Classic Concert and Theater Center in Khanty-Mansiysk. The festival's main prize, the Golden Taiga Award for Best Debut Film, went to the Spanish film "Deaf" by Eva Libertad García López. Anton Mamykin's "Space Falls Asleep" won the Russian Debut Competition, also receiving the "For the Preservation of Cultural Traditions" prize, the Audience Award "Flowers of Taiga Hope," and three other awards.
The Spirit of Fire Film Festival is Russia's largest international platform for film debuts by emerging directors. This year, the festival's competition programs featured 56 Russian and international films from North and South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. This year's festival focused on the theme "Children in Cinema"—various aspects of childhood, adolescence, and personality development, as well as the reflection of children's worldviews in contemporary cinema.
The festival's participants and jury walked the red carpet, including Fyodor Bondarchuk, Leonid Yarmolnik, Evgeny Margulis, Andrey Proshkin, Sergey Chliyants, Sofia Lebedeva, Leonid Kanevsky, Vladimir Kanukhin, Danila Krasnov, Aram Vardevanyan, Sergey Tsigal, Stasya Tolstaya, Grigory Kalinin, Anna Savranskaya, Ekaterina Channova, Victoria Maslova, Yulia Marchenko, Anton Pampushny, Daria Vereshchagina and others.
The ceremony was staged in the style of an ironic fairy tale, with elements of a theatrical skit, musical numbers, and references to children's film. The director of the ceremony was three-time winner of the Golden Mask National Theatre Award, Alexei Frandetti.
The winners of the international competition program for children and young people, "Your Cinema," were announced first. The competition jury included children who won a special competition among active participants of the "First Movement." Jury members Semyon Solovyov and Artem Grekhov announced that Joel Soisson's "A Hero for Kobus" had been awarded a Special Jury Mention.
The program's main prize, the "Small Bronze Taiga," was awarded to Nora Lakosh's film "I Accidentally Wrote a Book." Ekaterina Bordacheva, the program's curator and selector, accepted the award, noting the importance of the "Your Cinema" competition and emphasizing Nora Lakosh's exceptional talent.
The award in the "Film in Progress" category—a competition program for projects in production—was presented by jury chairman, director and producer Sergey Chliyants. He noted that this year's program was very strong. The winner was Evgenia Gromova's "Snow is Falling."
Thanks to Gazprom Neft's "Hometowns" social investment program, the winner in the "Film in Progress" category receives a prize of one million rubles.
Eighteen short films were submitted to the "Debut Short Film" competition. Jury members Sofia Lebedeva, Andrey Apostolov, and Zaka Abdrakhmanova took to the stage to present the prizes.
The film "Our Year" was awarded the "Small Silver Taiga" prize. Director Nikolai Kovalenko thanked the jury and the festival, noting that he and his team had enjoyed making the film together.
The film "Varvara the Saint," directed by Polina Kapantina, received the "Small Golden Taiga" award. The director herself took to the stage to accept the award and thanked her director, Sergei Solovyov.
Six films competed in the Russian Debut Competition. The jury included director Andrei Proshkin; musician, composer, songwriter, and performer Evgeny Margulis; cinematographer and international film festival winner Maria Solovyova; theater and film actress Alexandra Ursulyak; and theater, film, and television actor Leonid Yarmolnik. They took the stage to announce the winners.
Vladimir Borisov received the Pavel Lebeshev Cinematographers Guild Prize for Best Cinematography for his film "Space Falls Asleep." The film's director, Anton Mamykin, thanked the jury and the village of Shoyna, where Borisov filmed the film.
The Silver Rose award for best musical work was awarded to debut director Said Tolgurov for his film "In the Mountains. Him."
Mark Eidelstein received the Alexander Abdulov Award for Best Actor for his work in the film "Space Falls Asleep."
The Alexander Abdulov Prize for Best Actress in a Russian Debut Film was awarded to Alla Demidova for her film "The Greatness of Absence."
The film "Space Falls Asleep" won the Sergei Solovyov Golden Taiga Prize for best Russian debut film. Director Anton Mamykin and Ivan Yakovenko thanked the project's team and the residents of Shoyna, who welcomed them and allowed them to document their lives.
The special prize "For the Preservation of Cultural Traditions" from the film festival's general partner, Gazprom Neft, was presented by Dmitry Kolupaev, CEO of Gazpromneft-Khantos.
The festival presented a true celebration to the residents of Khanty-Mansiysk and Yugra, as well as to guests from across Russia and around the world. This celebration is the work of you—representatives of creative teams, young filmmakers taking their first steps in film, and established masters sharing their experience with the next generation of directors, producers, and actors.
Yulia Golubeva, Deputy General Director of Gazprom-Media Holding, presented the Roscongress Foundation's communications partner prize for preserving traditional spiritual values around the world, "The Soul of Russia. World Cinema." The award went to the film "Forma Momo" by director Tribeni Rai.
Next, members of the international jury, which included Chinese screenwriter Lu Wei (chairman of the jury), whose work was nominated for an Oscar and won the Palme d'Or in Cannes; actress, director, and social activist N'damo Damaris; festival organizer, film critic, and writer Jaime Christian Noguera Martin; and Serbian screenwriter, director, and producer Goran Radovanović, announced the winners of the International Competition.
The sound design team for Eva Libertad García López's film "Deaf" was awarded a Special Jury Mention for recreating the inaudible sound of the deaf and the beauty of music.
Natalia Lapshina's Songs of the Moon King also received a Special Jury Mention for its outstanding use of chiaroscuro to convey drama through light.
Another Special Jury Mention was awarded to Arash Anisi's Far East for preserving the elegance, precision, and sophistication of Iranian cinematic tradition and for forming a unique female cast.
The Bronze Taiga International Film Competition prize went to Emiliano Dante's film "Coin," a co-production between Italy and Serbia. The director dedicated the award to his entire team.
The Silver Taiga Prize was awarded to Tribeni Rai's debut work, "The Shape of Momo," produced in India and the Republic of Korea. Tribeni Rai expressed her gratitude for the award.
The festival's main prize, the Golden Taiga Award for Best Debut Film, was awarded to the Spanish film "Deaf," directed by Eva Libertad García López (Spain). Aquilino Gamazo accepted the award, expressing his gratitude to the film's entire team and the festival jury for their sensitivity to the team's work.
Next, Emir Kusturica took the stage to present the festival's President's Prize, which read "For maintaining the creative fire in Russian cinema." It was received by actor, producer, and director Fyodor Bondarchuk.
After this, Emir Kusturica, together with Ruslan Kuharuk, banged the clapperboard, declaring the 24th International Debut Film Festival "Spirit of Fire" officially closed.
This year's Spirit of Fire festival welcomed approximately 30 international guests from China, India, Spain, Cuba, Cameroon, Turkey, South Africa, Serbia, Azerbaijan, Argentina, Bulgaria, Cuba, Colombia, India, and Switzerland. A key part of the festival was its extensive business program, which included a series of business sessions devoted to current issues in the film industry's development. These sessions were attended by producers, directors, and representatives of the film industry and relevant organizations. Participants discussed issues of supporting debut films, finding financing and releasing films to audiences, the development of the animation industry, the specifics of creating children's and family content, and contemporary trends in family cinema. One of the key events was the plenary session "Children's and Family Content as a National Priority. The Role of Cinema in Shaping Values and the Future Generation." Experts discussed the importance of film and media in shaping the worldviews of children and adolescents, the role of the government and industry in developing high-quality children's content, and prospects for collaboration between the film industry, education, and cultural institutions.
"The Spirit of Fire Festival is becoming a significant tool for cultural exchange, enabling Russian cinema to reach the largest markets in the BRICS countries, encompassing half of humanity and a significant share of the global economy. These countries represent promising platforms for distributing Russian cinema and animation. The festival's business program fosters partnerships among filmmakers, encourages joint projects, and the creative exchange of ideas and scripts, uniting audiences from different countries based on shared cultural values and spiritual affinity. The importance of cultural diplomacy is underscored by the Roscongress Foundation's "Soul of Russia" project. This major humanitarian initiative already encompasses over 18 regions of our country, dozens of foreign countries, and brings together tens of thousands of participants. To reward filmmakers actively working to preserve and promote traditional spiritual values, the festival has established a special prize, "Soul of Russia. World Cinema," noted Elena Marinina, Deputy Director of the Roscongress Foundation.
Since 2007, the Spirit of Fire Film Festival has been supported by Gazprom Neft. The company co-organizes the festival and its cultural and educational program, awarding the best Russian film in the "For the Preservation of Cultural Traditions" category.
Gazprom-Media Holding is the main media partner of the film festival.
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