The winners of the People and Environment Film Festival have been announced

The closing ceremony was preceded by the press conference, which summed up the results of the 19th season.

Festival Director Andrey Salnikov thanked all participants, jury members, Irkutsk Regional Film Fund team, the Government of Irkutsk Region, the Ministry of Culture and Archives of Irkutsk Region, and, in particular, the president of the Festival Sergei Miroshnichenko, for their invaluable contribution and support.

Olga Belskaya, the chairman of the Irkutsk Regional Branch of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia, vice-president of the Festival, expressed gratitude to the organizers on behalf of the founders of the Festival.

An important event, which was also mentioned by the Festival management, was the Man by Lake Baikal: Challenges of the XXI Century Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow roundtable. Heads of ministries and departments, well-known lawyers, Irkutsk cinema community representatives, environmental scientists, popular bloggers and environmental community representatives were invited to participate. Stanislav Goldfarb, general director of the Komsomolskaya Pravda – Baikal Agency, acted as the moderator.

A significant part of the activities of one of the largest film events in the Angara Region took place in an online mode on the basis of the tvzavr online cinema this year, and specially prepared virtual halls allowed to enjoy the works of the participants of the 19th season and the winners of previous years 24 hours a day. In addition, the audience had the opportunity to get acquainted with the extensive archives of the East Siberian Newsreel Studio, the Eastern Siberia Newsreel, as well as with the films of modern Irkutsk directors during the Festival.

The festival program included 34 films from 16 countries. The jury led by Liina Härkönen, chairman of the Board of Directors of the Tampere Film Festival (Finland), evaluated 24 documentary, feature and animation works that made up the competitive part of the festival program. Liina Härkönen, chairman of the Baikal Film Festival jury:

«These films define, at first glance, very local issues, but in reality they reflect global problems that concern everyone who values life. I am very pleased that we so easily came to an agreement on the selection of winners in the categories.»

According to the results of the expert jury, the winners of the People and Environment Baikal International Film Festival n.a. V. Rasputin are: 

Grand Prix n.a. V. Rasputin and the prize of 200,000 rubles goes to the documentary When Tomatoes Met Wagner (directed by Marianna Economou, Greece, 2019, 72 min., 12+); 

Best Documentary Film n.a. Mikhail Romm: Sockeye Salmon. Red fish (directed by Dmitry Shpilenok and Vladislav Grishin, Russia, 2020, 51 min., 6+);

Best Feature Film n.a. Leonid Gaidai: Ecolove (directed by Dmitry Grigoriev, Russia, 2019, 24 min., 18+); 

Best Animated Film: Oasis (directed by Daria Kashcheeva, Czech Republic, 2017, 3 min., 12+);

In addition to the main categories, special prizes are traditionally awarded at the Festival.

Baikal special prize for the acuteness of the problem was awarded to the documentary 8) Baikal: CODE RED (directed by Alexander Gornovsky, Russia, 2020, 90 min., 12+). The movie also won the special prize for Serving the Ideals of Faith, Conscience and Beauty of the Exposition Department of the Irkutsk Regional Local History Museum n.a. V. Rasputin.

The special prize of the Russian Railways, Film Festival partner, was awarded to the documentary Sockeye Salmon. Red fish (directed by Dmitry Shpilenok, Vladislav Grishin, Russia, 2020, 51 min., 6+);

Honorary diploma of the Irkutsk Regional Branch of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia For Artistic Understanding of a Socially Significant Problem was awarded to the documentary Salt (directed by Vladimir Eisner, Russia, 2020, 38 min.);

Finally, the winner of the Media Jury Prize became the documentary Sharkwater: Extinction (directed by Rob Stewart, Canada, 2018, 85 min., 6+)

Congratulations to the winners! Thank you to all participants and viewers! 

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Reference:

The People and Environment Baikal International Film Festival was established by the Union of Cinematographers of the Russia and the Irkutsk Branch of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia. It has been held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Government of Irkutsk Region, the Ministry of Culture and Archives of Irkutsk Region since 1999. The Directorate of the Film Festival is the Irkutsk Regional Film Fund. The President of the Festival is Sergey Miroshnichenko: a documentary filmmaker, producer, teacher, Honored Artist of Russia, winner of two State Prizes of the Russian Federation, professor, head of the Workshop of the Non-Fiction Film Directing Department at the All-Russian State University of Cinematography, member of the National Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences of Russia, member of the Russian Academy of Television – TEFI.