Over Hundred Films From 44 Countries: 53rd Molodist International Film Festival Opened in Ukraine's Capital
The red hall of the Cinema House hosted the opening of the 53rd Kyiv International Film Festival Molodist, with the opening film being the Ukrainian-Polish drama Two Sisters directed by Lukasz Karwowski.
This was reported by the Ukrainian State Film Agency on Facebook.
This year's festival programme includes 123 films from 44 countries, presented in 11 programmes. In addition, industry events will take place throughout the festival.
The opening film of the festival was Two Sisters directed by Łukasz Karwowski, one of the first feature films to be shot in Ukraine after the start of the full-scale invasion.
The premiere was attended by the film's creators - director Łukasz Karwowski, one of the main roles Karolina Żepa, Ukrainian co-producer Viktoria Yarmoshchuk, as well as actors Maryna Koshkina, Vitalina Bibliv, Slava Babenkov and others.
The evening began with a minute of silence in memory of all the fallen soldiers and civilians who became victims of Russian aggression.
During the opening ceremony, Acting Head of the Ukrainian State Film Agency Yulia Shevchuk presented the Presidential Award and the Scythian Stag for the development of Ukrainian cinema from the Molodist Film Festival to Andriy Rizol, film producer and Chairman of the Board of the Association ‘Promoting the Development of Cinema in Ukraine - Watch Ukrainian!’.
In his turn, Molodist Film Festival General Director Andriy Khalpakhchi presented the honorary Scythian Stag to this year's chairman of the international competition jury, Mohammad Rasulof, for his contribution to the development of world cinema.
The Molodist Film Festival is supported by the Ukrainian State Film Agency and the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine.
The Molodist Film Festival will screen five unique documentary and feature films dedicated to current events in Ukraine or prominent personalities of Ukrainian culture in the Ukrainian Premieres section.