Mission

Fire is a symbol of life in all cultures, and for peoples of the North it stands for warmth, light and protection. Northern peoples treat the spirit of fire with special reverence, in their myths it is represented as a creature that lives inside the hearth. It helps to keep the home prosperous, protects people from illnesses, and guards the family. Fire has always been treated with great respect. Likewise, the festival has become a “patron” for debut films.

 The festival’s main objectives are:
 
 – to provide conditions for bringing up well-rounded personalities and to introduce spectators to the best works of Russian and world cinema;
 – to foster cultural diversity in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District and to promote art, creative industries, opportunities for entrepreneurship, tourism and culture;
 – to identify and support talented frst-time filmmakers, to integrate Russian cinema into the world film scene, and to create intangible cultural heritage. 
 
 We have adhered to these principles for 20 years, and we are very happy that our goals and desire to hold a festival of authentic cinema were shared by such great filmmakers as Sergei Solovyov and Alexander Abdulov, Krzysztof Zanussi and Oleg Yankovsky, Georgiy Daneliya and Nani Bregvadze, Petr Todorovsky and Alexander Mitta, Fanny Ardant and Vincent Perez, Catherine Deneuve and Pierre Richard, and a great many other friends of our Festival.