Message to Man

The festival was created in accordance with Resolution No. 29 of the USSR Council of Ministers, dated Jan. 16, 1989:

“The USSR State Committee for Cinematography, the USSR State Committee for Radio Broadcasting and Television and the Union of Cinematographers of the USSR organize the Leningrad International Film Festival of Non-Fiction Cinema Message to Man... in order to promote contacts and exchange of ideas between cinematographers from different countries who develop in their work the themes of goodness, social justice and peace.”

It was founded by Mikhail Litvyakov, who is now the Honorary President of the Festival.

Since 2010, Alexey Uchitel, director of documentary and feature films, People’s Artist of Russia, is the President of the Festival.

INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION


• Full-length documentary films (from 40 to 120 minutes)


• Short documentary films (up to 40 minutes)


• Short and animated films (no longer than 30 minutes)

NATIONAL COMPETITION OF DOCUMENTARY FILMS


• Documentary films (no longer than 120 minutes)

IN SILICO INTERNATIONAL COMPETITION OF EXPERIMENTAL FILMS


• Short experimental films (no longer than 15 minutes)

SPECIAL PROGRAMMES

Special programmes are established and compiled by the Organising Committee of the Festival. The number of special programmes for each year is determined based on the Festival’s current needs and capabilities. As part of the film festival, various exhibitions, theatrical and musical performances, meetings, and workshops which provide an opportunity to screen feature films outside the competitions, as well as other cultural events that are an integral part of the Festival’s programme are held.

OPENING AND CLOSING FILMS

At one time, the opening and closing movies were: The Apprentice, All We Imagine as Light, The Book of Solutions, [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt34224262/?ref%20=nm%20ov%20bio%20lk Vacation], Grand Marin, [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt24071244/ Big Snakes of Ulli-Kale], [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23810032/?ref%20=nv%20sr%20srsg%204%20tt%203%20nm%205%20in%200%20q%20balabanov Balabanov. Belltower. Requiem], Everything Went Fine, [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2613286/?ref%20=nm%20ov%20bio%20lk Playback], Final Cut — Ladies & Gentlemen, Youth, Aquarela, Man With a Movie Camera, A Gentle Creature, Lo and Behold, Reveries of the Connected World, The Unknown Girl, Human, Francofonia, Two Days, One Night, The Salt of the Earth, An Episode in the Life of an Iron Picker, The Dance of Reality, The Traitor, etc.

Over the years, the following filmmakers, philosophers, actors and journalists have participated or served as members of the jury: Agnes Varda, Isabelle Huppert, Werner Herzog, Emir Kusturica, Leni Riefenstahl, Paolo Sorrentino, Sergei Loznitsa, Alexander Rogozhkin, Konstantin Bronzit, Sergei Dvortsevoy, Alexander Rodnyansky, [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1018307/ Pavel Kostomarov], Kira Muratova, Alexander Sokurov, Victor Kossakovsky, Erwin Leiser, Tonino Guerra, Merab Mamardashvili, Ulrich Seidl, Frederick Wiseman, Eric Roberts, Claude Lanzmann, Fanny Ardant, Zbigniew Rybczyński, [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm1216597/ Ulrich Gregor], Vadim Abdrashitov, Leo Hurwicz and many others.

The arrival of 98-year-old Leni Riefenstahl during the 11th festival (2001) became a real sensation. She participated in the special program Documentary Cinema in Totalitarian States (screenings of her films and Dziga Vertov's pictures). The visit gave rise to heated debates in society: some screenings were cancelled, but Message to Man IFF stand strong and defended the most crucial one — in [https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maison%20du%20Cinéma%20(Saint-Pétersbourg) Dom Kino cinema center], one of the most important point of attraction of all cinephiles in St. Petersburg.

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