Press releases

MINSK, 4 November (BelTA) – This year’s edition of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad set the tone on the first day: stylish, simple, and tasteful. In line with a long-standing tradition, the opening ceremony took place at the Moskva movie theater in the evening of 3 November, BelTA has learned.

The event started with a red carpet ceremony – an integral part of the festival. Two hosts, the artist Vladislav Vinogradov and the famous screen and stage actress Yulia Shpilevskaya, announced the guests’ names as they walked down the red carpet.

The first ones to arrive were Belarusian artists: Vera Polyakova, Yulia Polubinskaya, Olga Burlakova, Ruslan Chernetsky, Oleg Veber, Tatyana Markhel, Valeria Arlanova, Alexander Yefremov, and others.

Then, the main figures of the festival – participants of the competitions and members of the jury – went up to the banner with the festival’s motto Truth, Love, and Beauty.

The guests posed for photos and shared their expectations for the festival with the media.

People’s Artist of Russia Vladimir Menshov, a guest of honor, went on stage to speak about his warm relationship with Belarus which he earlier touched upon when talking with journalists.

The audience were taking their seats to the strains of classic melodies played by Alexander Muzykantov, a winner of international contests, soloist of the Belarusian State Philharmonic.

The movie theater then saw drummers dressed in tailcoats, who played quite unusual instruments: film cameras, cassette tapes, a clapperboard, a light stand, and a director’s chair.

Belarusian Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Zharko read out a message of greetings of the head of state. He then announced the film maker to be awarded a special prize of the Belarus president for preserving and developing spiritual traditions in cinema. The audience gave an ovation to Vladimir Menshov who received the award and shared his emotions about this recognition.

The actress Vera Polyakova performed a song from Vladimir Menshov’s 1980 picture Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears. The movie was his victory and triumph and marked a new stage in the director’s career.

The hosts of the ceremony Denis Dudinsky and Yekaterina Rayetskaya welcomed to the stage those making their first steps to the top of the film industry at Listapad – the participants of the feature film competition. The hosts asked Vladimir Menshov to break a plate with the participants’ autographs and kick off the Listapad 2017 festival.

The 24th installment of the Minsk international film festival Listapad is to run from 3 to 10 November to screen 165 pictures from 55 countries. The audience will be able to evaluate 94 works taking part in four competition programs as the festival’s main prize is the audience award.