In Surgut, the IV International Festival “Cinema in the Service of the Fatherland” was opened

On October 20, the IV International Mobile Festival “Cinema in the Service of the Fatherland” started in the Surgut Philharmonic.

From 20 to 23 October, screenings, film concerts and creative meetings will be held at 16 venues of Ugra. The program includes feature, documentary and animated films about courage, family values, loyalty to duty and strength of spirit, as well as a separate military-patriotic selection for young viewers from 10 to 14 years old.

The festival has already visited more than 80 regions of the country: the audience saw more than a hundred paintings shot by eyewitnesses and participants in the events in Donbas. For four seasons, the project united more than 30 regions, and its shows were visited by more than 280 thousand people. This year, the Surgut Philharmonic has become a launch pad for linking two federal projects – their common goal is to build an educational system through a film for schoolchildren, where the key topic is service to the Fatherland.

At the opening of the festival, Deputy Governor Elena Mayer said:

“I am glad to personally welcome the organizers and spectators to the Ugra land. This popular movement has grown into a great creative force.”.

The head of the festival, director and poet Olesya Shigina noted that the mission of the project has grown significantly over four years:

“It is very important for us that our word — artistic, poetic, cinematographic — is heard by young people. That's our mission. Today we brought to Surgut, in my opinion, all the best – music, cinema, and poetry. It is said that when guns speak, the muses are silent. Not true! Real art responds here and now. Because if the heart of a creative person does not respond to the pain of their country, then something is wrong with that heart. It has either stopped beating or is devastated.”.

Olesya Shigina also drew attention to the growing demand for content for children and adolescents: according to her, a couple of years ago there was a significant shortage of quality products for schoolchildren, and this year began to appear films for the audience of 10-14 years old – their popularity is growing rapidly, but the volume of such films is still insufficient.

The project continues to evolve: the organizers are betting on working with high school students and students, expanding the library of films and formats. Thus, within the framework of the International Mobile Festival in the cities of Ugra, they intend to launch film schools for school-age children. The initiative was implemented jointly by the Kir Bulychev Film Studio (its founders and producers), the Academy Foundation and the Kinospherum.rf children’s and youth content platform. Already this year, the first such school will start - it will open on the basis of the school "Basic" in Nefteyugansk.