An alumnus of the Youth Cinema project won the Mechta International Film Festival

18 august 2022

17-year-old filmmaker from Kstovo Yekaterina Leneva, an ex-participant of SIBUR's Youth Cinema project, became the winner of the Mechta (Dream) International Film Festival in Moscow. The picture that she directed, Fedka Kuplenny, won the first prize and was awarded the Grand Prix for best picture. Yekaterina received a certificate allowing her to study at a film school in Moscow for a degree in directing.

Dream, the International Short Film Festival was held on August 3 to 7. The Filmmakers of up to 18 years old category featured 47 entries, two of which were submitted by former participants of the Youth Cinema project from the city of Kstovo, Nizhegorodskaya Oblast. In 2021, the city hosted the first film camp for children and teenagers, organized by MEM.Media with the support of SIBUR's Formula for Good Deeds social investment program. As part of the project, participants were taught how to make films: from writing the script to editing. Upon completion of their training, the students produced their finished products. Fedka Kuplenny, the film that won the festival's Grand Prix, tells the story of a little girl Nastya who learns to believe in miracles.

Projects such as Youth Cinema that we implement in partnership with national-level experts help us achieve a very important goal which is to provide young people in the regions where the Company operates with the same opportunities for development and launching their careers that their peers in metropolitan areas have. We are very happy for Yekaterina Leneva and hope that this award will inspire her to continue going down her creative path and will be the beginning of an exciting career in moviemaking, Elena Snezhko, Head of the Formula for Good Deeds program, noted.