Yesterday, 7 September, the Kazan Town Hall hosted the opening ceremony of the XVIII Kazan International Muslim Film Festival, which is held annually under the motto ‘Through Dialogue of Cultures to Culture of Dialogue’.
The Group of Strategic Vision ‘Russia – Islamic World’ became the main strategic partner of the festival. Not surprisingly, such a grand event in the Islamic cultural world brought together guests from different countries and continents. Even the jury of the festival represented the eight countries: France, Algeria, the UAE, Kazakhstan, Iran, India, Turkey and Egypt. Vladimir Khotinenko, Honored Art Worker of Russia and People’s Artist of Russia, chaired the Commission.
This year, the festival received 625 applications from 44 countries. The Selection Committee did a tremendous amount of work and selected 50 films to be included in the main competition program. Domestic films are well represented in it.
The entries will be judged in the four main categories:
1) Live-action feature-length films
2) Live-action feature-short films
3) Feature-length documentaries
4) Documentary short films.
This year there will also be the National Competition nomination, which was created to support Tatarstan’s cinematographers back in 2017.
All the festival participants will be offered a full thematic program, including a film market and pitching – a public presentation and defense of film projects in front of an expert panel.
Farid Mukhametshin, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Tatarstan, addressed the participants and guests at the opening ceremony of the film festival. He welcomed everybody on behalf of Rustam Minnikhanov, President of the Republic of Tatarstan and Chairman of the Group of Strategic Vision ‘Russia – Islamic World’, and the Government of the Republic and added: ‘It gives me great pleasure to take part in the opening of the film festival, which is being held in a special atmosphere of celebrating the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria. Thanks to the personal support of President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, this momentous event is being celebrated at a national level. The adoption of Islam by our ancestors largely determined the formation of Russian civilization, which absorbed traditions of both the West and the East, and made us part of the vast Islamic world. It is significant that the first film to open the festival was ‘Ibn Fadlan’ by Tatarstan film director Ainaz Mukhametzyanov, which recounts the events of those days. The XVIII Kazan International Muslim Film Festival is a worthy continuation of the milestone events of the current jubilee year. I am convinced that the film festival consolidates its positions and authority not only in Russia, but also in the whole world. The demand for the film festival is evidenced by expanding geography of the participants and the quality of the film presented. Our republic has rightly cemented its status as a model of mutual respect and good neighborly relations. Peace and harmony between representatives of 170 different nationalities is the result of systematic work of the republic’s leadership with the support of civil society institutions and the population of Tatarstan’.
Rushan Abbyasov, First Deputy Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia and the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation, Head of the apparatus of the Council of Muftis of Russia, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Moscow Oblast, conveyed the greetings from Sheikh Ravil Gainutdin, President of the film festival, Chairman of the Spiritual Administration of Muslims of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Council of Muftis of Russia, with wishes for success and fruitful work. Rushan Abbyasov noted that the film festival was especially in demand then: ‘An important message of this event is a dialogue of cultures and traditions. Through the prism of film art, we disseminate important spiritual values. The Almighty in the Holy Quran said that he had created us male and female, made us different tribes and peoples, so that we knew each other. And our film festival contributes to this call’.
At the origin of the Muslim Film Festival was a film by Vladimir Khotinenko, Honored Art Worker and People’s Artist of Russia, entitled ‘The Muslim’. The director of the film himself noted this in his speech: ‘We presented this film at the first festival. Today we can confidently say that the Kazan Muslim Film festival has found its niche with the motto ‘Through Dialogue of Cultures to Culture of Dialogues’. This is an obvious achievement of our multinational country.
Many of the films of this year’s festival mark this year’s celebration of the 1100th anniversary of the adoption of Islam by Volga Bulgaria, and one of them, ‘Ibn Fadlan’, was screened outside the competition program on the opening day. Director of the film, Ainaz Mukhametzyanov, - producer, director, screenwriter, commenting on the significant event: ‘The main source for the film ‘Ibn Fadlan’ undoubtedly was his treatise. The film cannot be called an adaption of his journey, since we touched upon only some moments, as it is impossible to tell all the events that took place at that time within the framework of the project. We paid attention to those moments which relate directly to the choice of our ancestors. When I was offered to make a film based on Ibn Fadlan’s noted, I was very happy because I am keen on history, have completed my postgraduate studies and have long wanted to make a historical film about our ancestors who made the moral civilizational choice of Islam, and this is the main message of the film. What we are today is a direct consequence of the choices our ancestors made’.
Ainaz Mukhametzyanov added that for Tatarstan such a project was the first of its kind: ‘We have never shot a historical film using modern cinematography, and nobody has ever delved so deeply into history. The process of filming itself was unprecedented for Tatarstan. For instance, the scene of reading out the letter was organized at Kazan Expo. It was a mass scene where computer graphics were used – in December we recreated the weather in May. A lot of work has been done, and a lot of experience has been gained. Of course, we would like this wealth of material to be used in order to make an extended version of the film or another historical film, or even a series. We could have brought out more characters states in the film. This series would be more interesting not only for the people of Tatarstan, but also for the entire Muslim world’.
It should be noted that Ainaz Mukhametzyanov is also the director of such documentary films as ‘Continuous Alms’ (2010), ‘Three Milestones in Life’ (2011), ‘Youth from Iman’ (2012), ‘Buinsk Madrasah’ (2015), the author of the script and producer of films ‘Mukhammadiya Madrasah’ (2016), ‘Shigabutdin Marjani’ (2018), as well as of over 40 live-action social videos shot for the Khuzur TV company.
Among the guests and participants of the festival there were also the actors who starred in the films presented to the jury and the audience. Ratmir Garifullin spoke about the unifying role of cinema. At the festival he is presenting a full-length feature film ‘Julur: Mas-Wrestling’ (Russia, Yakutia), which is included in the out-of-competition program ‘Turkic World’. ‘The film was already released on June 2 in Moscow and it successfully collected a box office. The film has become a prize-winner at the VIII Russian Film Festival ‘Provincial Russia’. I, an actor from Tatarstan, was invited to work in the Yakut film. This is an example of how Russian regions can also cooperate and inspire each other’.
Flora Vafina, singer-songwriter, member of the Russian Writers’ Union, Honored Artist of the Republic of Tatarstan, shared her impressions of the event at the opening of the Kazan Muslim Film Festival: ‘This is my first time at this film festival, and it was my dream to come here. I watch all Tatarstan films at the Cinema House in Moscow and I am planning to watch all the films here, as long as there is time. These films have a spiritual charge!’
The out-of-competition program ‘Kazan Premieres’ will feature the presentation of the film ‘Mikulai’ by Russian film director, producer, cinematographer, and screenwriter, Ilshat Rakhimbay (Kazan). At the opening ceremony Ilshat Rakhimbay said that within the framework of those days’ events ‘A Film about Film’ would be shown and a creative meeting would take place. Talking to the media, Ilshat Rakhimbay stressed the high organization of the Kazan film festival: ‘I have been taking part in the Kazan Muslim Film Festival since 2013, right after my graduation from university. I can say that this event is becoming better and better in terms of content and organization. Trust me I have a lot to compare it to. The organization of the film festival is at the highest European level. For me, as an old-timer of the film forum, it is important that it plays its role in the development of Tatarstan’s cinematography. Last year, 10 full-length feature films were made in the Republic, which was the first time ever. This shows that there is a certain aura in Tatarstan that fuels people and inspire to make good films. This development can be accelerated if state authorities will get involved and if there are some elements of support, not only in the form of subsidies from the Ministry of Culture, but also in the form of grants for training, workshops, courses…If there are ‘burning eyes’, it all can work for the development of Tatarstan’s cinematography. As far as today’s film festival is concerned, I hope for interesting projects, useful acquaintances and fruitful collaboration. Here, in these days, something new should be born on the level of ideas and agreements’.
Speaking at the opening of the film festival, Egyptian film and TV actress and jury member of the current film competition Ilham Shakhin noted that she was participating in the event for the third time. The winner of many Egyptian international awards, she said that her films won awards in 2010 and 2017: ‘Back then, this film festival was a revelation for me. I admired the fact that both political and religious figures were equally interested in cinematography. This is a great achievement of the film festival’.