The Conclusions of the 10th Anniversary Odesa International Film Festival

The 10th Odesa International Film Festival, held from July 12 to July 20 makes the conclusions

This year, 1110 films from 40 countries from three continents were submitted to participate in the 10th anniversary OIFF. 12 films participated in the International Competition competed for the Grand Prix, 5 feature and 10 short films attended the National Competition program and 8 the European Documentary Competition. In total, about one hundred films were shown in the competition and non-competition programs of the festival. In all the competition programs, the International, National and European Documentary Competition 35 films in total took part, 19 of which (54%) were shot by female directors. OIFF's total audience made up 165,000 views. Thanks to TENET-TV the Festival TV live broadcasting was seen by thousands of people across the country.

This year, on the occasion of the festival's anniversary, two open-air performances took place at the Potemkin Stairs. On July 13 at the Potemkin Stairs, the cult movie The Cossacks (1928) produced by MGMwas shown to viewers. On July 19, OIFF guests saw a unique musical media-performance-opera Stairs to ...by Vlad Troitsky. This show was created specifically for Odesa International Film Festival.

The open-air events were waiting for the audience at the Green Theatre as well. In particular, on the 6th day of the film festival, a German film, the classic of silent cinema The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene, was shown. The movie premiered in Berlin in 1920. It was this film that initiated German cinema expressionism. This is the first movie in the history of cinema to depict a change in human consciousness. A special screening at the Green Theatre was accompanied by a performance of the British music trio The Tiger Lillies.

Within the 10th anniversary OIFF, in the Special Impressions section, OIFF viewers was shown the film The Process by Sergei Loznitsa, the film by Vitaliy Mansky Putin's Witnesses, as well as Varda by Agnès, the film by the world cinema legend Agnes Varda.

During OIFF, the Ukrainian retrospective Hollywood by the Black Sea from Dovzhenko Center was presented, which this year showed legendary films from the cult directors of Odesa Film Studio. A special program dedicated to the 100th anniversary of Odesa Film Studio included the following films: Be Silent, My Sorrow, Be Silent (1918, by Pyotr Chardynin), Love’s Berry (1926, by Oleksandr Dovzhenko), Spring on Zarechnaya Street (1956, by Marlen Khutsiev, Felix Mironer), Rainbow Formula (1966, by Georgy Yungvald-Khilkevich), Wartime Romance (1983, by Pyotr Todorovsky) and The Tuner (2004, by Kira Muratova).

For the first time this year, the blind and hearing-impaired persons had the opportunity to watch two films from Odesa International Film Festival. The movie My Thoughts Are Silent was available with a tiflocomment that made it possible for blind people to view the film and the film The Man Who Bought The Moon was shown within the OIFF with adapted subtitles for people with hearing impairments.

For the contribution to cinema two Golden Dukes were presented during OIFF 2019. The winner of the first of the 10th OIFF awards during the Opening Ceremony, the honorary Golden Duke for the contribution to cinema, became Mike Leigh, the British theatre and cinema director. At the closing ceremony of the jubilee Odesa International Film Festival on July 20, Catherine Deneuve, the legend of French cinema, the guest of the 10th anniversary OIFF was honoured with the Golden Duke for her contribution to cinema. Also this year, two honorary statuettes were awarded, to Odesa Film Studio on the occasion of its 100th anniversary and to Mikhail Zhvanetsky, the regular guest and the festival friend.

The World cinema professionals and filmmakers came to the 10th Odesa International Film Festival, including Rose Mcgowan, the American actress, director and singer, Mike Leigh, the famous British writer and director, Catherine Deneuve, the honored guest of the 10th OIFF, the French actress, Aidan Turner, the actor, the long-time friend of Odesa International Film Festival, Barry Ward, another Irish actor, Ivanna Sakhno, the Ukrainian actress, who works in Hollywood, Joanna Kos-Krauze, the Polish director and screenwriter, Bill Guttentag, the American director, screenwriter, producer, Sonia Kronlund, the French director, radio host, producer, Mania Akbari, the Iranian director, Peter Brosens, the Belgian director and producer, Nicholas Elliott, the member of the selection committee of the Locarno International Film Festival, film critic, Akhtem Seitablayev, the Ukrainian actor and director, Nariman Aliev, the director and scriptwriter, directors Sergey Loznitsa and Vitaliy Mansky, the Ukrainian actresses Irma Vitovskaya, Rimma Zyubina, Natalya Vasko and others.

"The Anniversary, it is also about the numbers. During the years of its existence, Odesa International Film Festival was attended by more than a million viewers, the guests of OIFF were tens of thousands of film professionals, we watched several tens of thousands of films and showed more than 1000 films from more than 100 countries. Our goal as a festival today and for the next ten years is to combine technology and innovation with the film industry. We are going to create our own trends and continue to transmit only the honest emotions and high professionalism to the viewer", said Victoria Tihipko, the President of Odesa International Film Festival.

The Film Industry Office section is also developing and expanding year by year. New programs are emerging, and the number of countries that can apply is increasing. This year, the professional stage of the film festival has changed the venue, the meetings of the film industry representatives took place in Londonskaya Hotel. During the 10th OIFF, the Film Industry Office gathered more than 600 film professionals from different countries. It presents 13 projects within Pitching, 12 in Work in progress and 6 in EastSeries. It should be noted that for the first time this year, the regional projects have been included in the above list. Presentations, panel discussions and networking meetings took place over 4 days; also within OIFF was held the conference Cinema: Backstage “Why are co-productions a way of financing or cultural exchange?” In OIFF Summer Film Market was attended by over 200 representatives of distribution companies and Ukrainian cinemas, as well as film studios and other companies that provide services in the field of the film industry.

“The Film Industry Office section operated within Odesa International Film Festival for the eighth time. I am pleased to note that each year it becomes even more extensive and interesting, developing, expanding the geography of participants and guests, presenting new co-production opportunities with Ukraine, gathering a record number of film professionals from Ukraine and the world. The presentations on the development of the Ukrainian film industry, new educational opportunities for producers and directors, promotion of films in the world market, co-production of countries, gender balance in the film industry and equal opportunities - all these topics became a part of the interesting industrial program of OIFF 2019. The best projects, the most interesting meetings of the film industry, new opportunities - this is where the future of cinema is going!”, says Julia Sinkevich, OIFF General Producer.

The events of the film festival were covered by about 600 representatives of the Ukrainian and international press, including the leading world media. 300 volunteers assisted in the organization of the film festival, including representatives of Morocco and the United States, in addition to Ukrainians.

The handing of Grand Prix at the Closing Ceremony of the 10th Anniversary Odesa International Film Festival was the real surprise. The main award of the anniversary OIFF was won by two films at once - Homeward (by Nariman Aliyev) as well as And Then We Danced (by Levan Akin). The winner of the European Documentary Competition was the film Men’s Room (by Petter Sommer, Jo Vemund Svendsen). A special mention of the European Documentary Film Competition panel of judges was given to the film For Sama (by Waad Al-Kateab, Edward Watts). FIPRESCI diplomas were awarded the Ukrainian feature film My Thoughts Are Silent (by Antonio Lukic), as well as the Ukrainian Short Film In Our Synagogue (by Ivan Orlenko), has got an award. The honorable mention by the panel of judges of the National Contest was made to Andriy Lidagovsky for his role in the film My Thoughts are Silent (by Antonio Lukic). In the National Competition, the best Ukrainian short film was The Secret, The Girl And The Boy directed by Oksana Kazmina. The Golden Duke winner in the nomination for the feature film was chosen My Father Is My Mother’s Brother (by Vadim Ilkov). The Duke for the Best Acting in the National Competition was given to Irma Vitovska for her role in My Thoughts are Silent (by Antonio Lukic). In the Best Director's Work category won Vadim Ilkov for the film My Father Is My Mother’s Brother. The viewers, who were the main arbiters of Odesa International Film Festival, selected the best film of the National Competition Program My Thoughts Are Silent (by Antonio Lukic), which received the Audience Award. This award was presented for the first time at Odesa International Film Festival. According to the panel of judges, the best actress of the International Competition Program in the nomination the Best Actor was won by Levan Gelbakhiani for his role in the film And Then We Danced (by Levan Akin). The best director was Alejandro Landes for the film Monos. According to the panel of judges, the best film was And Then We Danced (by Levan Akin). The winners of the Pitching were the following projects: the Georgian drama Panopticon received 60.000 UAH from OIFF. The prize from the TV channel Ukraine in the amount of 60.000 UAH was awarded to the project The Reflection by Valentin Vasilyanovich. The prize from HeForShe Global Solidarity Movement for Gender Equality, founded by the United Nations structure, was awarded two projects, each with a value of 60,000 UAH. The winners are two projects that created the creative tandems - the director and producer: the tragic comedy The First of September directed by Roman Bondarchuk and producer Elena Ershova and La Paliciada directed by Philip Sotnichenko, Valeria Sochivets, Sashka Chubko. The film You Are Space by director Pavel Ostrykov and producer Vladimir Yatsenko, received a special prize from Wajda studio, the participation in Ekran+2020 training. The honourable mention was also made to project by Daria Zhuk Our Breasts are our Weapons: the History of the Femen Movement. In the nomination Work in progress, the panel of judges mentioned the following works: Ukrainian-Swiss project Forgotten by Daria Onishchenko, received a prize of 150,000 UAH from the Ukrainian Institute. The documentary project Fragile Memory by the young director Igor Ivanko received the award from the news program Today, Ukraine channel in the amount of 60.000 UAH. The award in amount 2000 Euro from Ukraine International Airlines, General Carrier, was received by director Ioane Bobeica for Thunders project. EastSeries prizes: post-production services package from Star Media company in the amount of 20.000 Euro was taken by the Ukrainian-Israeli project Happy Nation. A special award from Series Mania - a personal invitation to participate in the Series Mania Writers' Campus was given for the film Gift.

Recall that the maximum accuracy and transparency of voting during the festival days was provided by Kreston GCG, OIFF official auditor. This year, the innovative changes awaited for Odesa International Film Festival as well: in cooperation with TicketsBox, OIFF developed a new ticket system. Thanks to the partnership with TASCOMBANK and Mastercard in Ukraine, OMKF has become a cashless-territory. The festival Card OIFF was specially issued for this.

The 10th OIFF was supported by TASKOMBANK, the general partner, Ukraine TV channel, the strategic partner, Ukraine International Airlines the general carrier, Mastercard Ukraine, the payment partner, Ukrainian State Film Agency, Renault, the official auto partner, ARARAT, the official sponsor, Glo™, the official partner, TENET, the reliable internet partner, New Time, the official partner, NRJ, the general radio partner, Karcher, the cleaning partner, Elle, the fashion partner, OhMyLook!, the official partner, Fusion, the official beauty salon, Bon Appetite, the official catering partner of Opening and Closing ceremonies.

The 11th Odesa International Film Festival will take place from 10 to 18 July 2020!