Tomorrow starts the 52nd Molodist KIFF: announcement of the opening ceremony, workshop for filmmakers, and closing film
The opening ceremony will take place on October 21 at the Krakiv Cultural Cluster, starting at 5 p.m. Hosting the evening will be Timur Miroshnychenko and Valentyna Khamaiko from 1+1 TV Channel. 1+1 media is the main media partner of the event.
The opening film for this year’s festival will be the 1968 Italian classic Romeo and Juliet by Franco Zeffirelli. This year marks the 100th anniversary of his birth. The special guest of the ceremony will be Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Spain to Ukraine Ricardo López-Aranda Jagu. 52nd Molodist will be held from October 21 to 29, 2023. Zhovten Cinema will serve as the festival center. This year, the festival returns in its full format, with all the competition screenings: international competition, national competition, documentary competition, and Molodist Teen Screen (the screenings of the program will take place in the Krakiv Cinema), as well as a rich non-competition program. The program and schedule are available on the official molodist.com website.
Molodist has already announced the jury members for the competition programs. The international competition juries include casting director Alla Samoilenko (Ukraine), director of photography Thomas Stokowski (Germany), producer Victoria Khomenko (Ukraine), producer and actress Romanna Lobach (Greece), and cultural manager Kamen Balkanski (Bulgaria), who is the head of the jury. For the documentary competition, we have cinematographer Vyacheslav Tsvetkov (Ukraine), documentary director Dmytro Tiazhlov (Ukraine), and documentary director, TV producer, and actress Barbara Cupisti (Italy). In the national short film competition, the juries consist of cultural manager Radu Sticlea (Portugal), artist and curator, last year’s Molodist winner Clemens Poole (USA), and director, artist, and former national competition winner Alina Panasenko (Ukraine). Finally, the Molodist Teen Spirit juries are comprised of children from Kyiv schools aged 10–14. You can find more information about the international jury members in the competition programs on our website.
Workshop by the creators of the film Stay Online
On October 26, the Molodist Film Festival will host a workshop focused on the intricacies of creating a screenlife movie. The session will be led by the team of AMO Pictures, whose film Stay Online will be featured in the festival’s international full-length competition program. The workshop will begin right after the screening, offering the viewers an opportunity to learn about the stages of film creation.
Yeva Strielnikova, the film’s director, will discuss the key distinctions between screenlife and traditional cinema. Masha Perehontseva, the screenlife supervisor, will delve into the creation of the laptop-based world. Viktor Hrynchuk, the editor of the film and its technical director, will elaborate on the nuances of working within this genre, while Anton Vynnyk, the head of the VFX department and VFX artist, will illustrate the “before” and “after” differences. The workshop will be moderated by Anton Skrypets, the author of the idea and the producer of the film Stay Online. Attendance at the workshop is free for ticket holders and festival pass holders. The location is 5B Volodymyrska Street, Ukrainian-Danish Youth House.
Closing film
The closing film for this year’s Molodist Film Festival is Różyczka 2 by Polish director Jan Kidawa-Błoński. The film follows the story of Joanna Warczewska, a successful member of the European Parliament and the daughter of a famous writer. Her world is shattered when a sudden terrorist attack claims her husband’s life, disrupting her political career and family peace. As fate offers her a second chance, new troubles emerge. Joanna receives photos and documents that not only strain her family relationships but also reveal her mother’s past collaboration with the Security Service. Determined to uncover the mystery casting a shadow over her family, Joanna embarks on a personal investigation. What she discovers not only changes her perception of her mother but also forces her to search for her own identity. Confronting the blackmailer, Joanna faces a life-altering choice. Starring: Magdalena Boczarska, Robert Więckiewicz, Janusz Gajos.
Director, screenwriter, and producer Jan Kidawa-Błonski was born in 1953 in Chorzów, Poland. He studied architecture at the Silesian University of Technology and graduated from the directing department of the Łódź Film School. In 1982–1991, he worked at the Silesia Film Studio. He served as head of the Polish Filmmakers Association from 1990 to 1994. He also sat on the board of the Independent Film and Television Producers Association. In 2005, he directed an award-winning film Destined for Blues, which tells the story of his nephew Ryszard Riedel, lead singer of blues-rock band Dżem. In 2010, he won the Golden Lions Award at the 35th Gdynia Film Festival for his film Różyczka. Stills for Romeo and Juliet and Różyczka 2 can be found here.
The festival will be held with the financial support of the Ukrainian State Film Agency, the Stabilization Fund for Culture and Education of the German Foreign Office and the Goethe-Institut, the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, the Italian Embassy in Ukraine, the Italian Cultural Institute in Ukraine, the Embassy of Spain in Ukraine, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany in Ukraine, the Embassy of France in Ukraine, the French Institute, the Embassy of Switzerland in Ukraine, and the Polish Institute in Kyiv.
Creative partner — Hexagon Аgency
Partners: State lotteries operator M.S.L. and Lotto Zabava, Ilta, Zhovten Cinema, Krakiv Cinema, Kyiv Cultural Cluster, FROLOV, Kimberli, UP Hub, Amo Pictures, International Institute of Deep Psychology
Main media partner — 1+1 media
Media partners: Kyivstar TV, Svidomi, Suspilne, hromadske, Ukrainskyi Tyzhden, LiRoom, Mind.ua, detector media, Marie Claire, DTF Magazine, Moviegram, TyKyiv, Vethirnii Kyiv, Nove Ukrainske Kino, Zahin Kinomaniv
Hospitality partners: Il Molino, Ptashka na Podoli, Tisto Kyiv, Radisson Blu, Happy Leaf, Status, Styhla, The Highland Fox, Gigineishvili wine house, Dooobra Ferma.