From March 3 to 6, 2023, the XXI International Film Debut Festival “Spirit of Fire” was held in Khanty-Mansiysk, which traditionally presented the best films by directors from Russia and other countries of the world. The theme of this year's festival is “Indigenous Peoples of the World.”
Contests
Main competition of the film festival "Spirit of Fire". Every year at least six full-length films (including at least one Russian film) participate in it. According to the rules of the competition, these are the director’s first or second full-length works in feature films. Competition films have not been shown in Russia before. Prizes - “Golden Taiga”, “Silver Taiga” and “Bronze Taiga”
For a long time, the program of Russian debuts developed in parallel with the main international competition “Spirit of Fire”. Now this is a separate competition in which at least six full-length films take part, each of which is the director’s first work. Competition films have not been shown in Russia before. Prizes - “Golden Taiga” based on audience voting, jury prizes for the best director, actor, actress, cameraman and composer, special prize for preserving cultural traditions from Gazprom Neft PJSC.
The competition involves directors for whom this is their first or second work in the field of feature films, and the duration of the film does not exceed 20 minutes. For the winners, who will be determined by a jury formed of film experts and film critics, separate awards are provided - the “Golden Taiga - Short Film” and “Silver Taiga - Short Film” prizes.
“Your Cinema” is almost the same age as “Spirit of Fire”. Having appeared in the 6s as a children’s and youth film club at the festival, “Your Cinema” has grown into a full-fledged international competition program. As part of this program, international and Russian premieres of films from all over the world, made for audiences from 16 to XNUMX years old, take place.
Work-in-Progress is a format where directors and producers present unfinished films to their colleagues for judgment. In addition to professional discussion, many projects thus receive partner support at the stage of postproduction and distribution, promising contacts useful for the fate of the future film. The “Spirit of Fire” is held for the second time.
Every year, the “Spirit of Fire” hosts non-competitive programs united by different themes. These are a kind of ensembles from films that, as a rule, are not yet familiar to the general public, but have received high praise at world and Russian festivals. In 2024, interesting new products are collected in the “Special Shows” program. “It’s a pity that you weren’t with us” are landmark debut films of emerging Russian directors, which premiered not at the “Spirit of Fire”. “Starting Point” is a program of films in the creation of which our festival played a role: they were presented in unfinished form at last year’s Work-in-Progress.
Photos
Winners
Like the stars
Russia / 2020
Director: Maria Loiter
The cage is looking for a bird
Russia / 2023
Director: Malika Musaeva
Niša
Russia / 2023
Director: Anton Ermolin
Trail
Russia / 2023
Director: Mikhail Kulunakov
Vad'd'a. ordeals
Russia / 2022
Director: Nikita Dobrynin
Unearthly eyes
Taiwan (China) / 2022
Director: Wang Chun-Hung
On both sides of the pond
India / 2022
Director: Parth Saurabh
Parallax
Iran / 2023
Director: Shahram Ebrahimi
Cuckoo
Russia / 2023
Director: Evgeny Nikolaev
Jury
Business program
The main theme of the Spirit of Fire festival is “The special language of the national cinema of the BRICS countries.” Representatives of the film industry from Russia, India, the UAE, Egypt, Iran, South Africa and other countries will discuss the prospects for joint film production, cultural and educational exchange programs, and the development of national film distribution.
