Tobolsk hosted the Second Open Film Festival “Alafey Mountain”

3 april 2023

On March 28 through April 1, Tobolsk hosted the festival of modern and relevant cinema “Alafey Mountain”. The festival's full-length film competition featured eight movies. The festival’s busy program also included special events, meet-the-star get-togethers, concerts, and stage performances; a total of more than 20 diverse events altogether.

The festival is being supported by SIBUR as part of its Formula for Good Deeds social investment program.

The winners of the "Alafey Mountain" festival were announced on April 1 at the festival’s closing ceremony held at the Ershov Tobolsk Drama Theater. The jury of the full-length film competition was chaired by director, screenwriter, and winner of national and international festivals Georgy Shengelia. The jury also included actress Anna Churina and screenwriter and film critic Anna Pendrakovskaya.

I want to echo my fellow members of the jury and say thank you to Tobolsk’s spectators. You are really an amazing audience, so sympathetic with films shown here and great viewers of cinema, the jury’s chairman, director and screenwriter Georgy Shengelia, noted. Our program was truly top-notch. We need more films about love, because it is love that breathes life into everything. Love is the beginning of everything, of every journey, of every faith, of every creation. Love will save the world. And if there is love, and if female directors are doing their best to convey that thought to us, doing it so very convincingly, with breathtaking plots and strong acting, they deserve being put on a pedestal.

Below is the list of winners selected by the jury:

Best Picture: "The Vegetable Garden" directed by Larisa Sadilova

Best Director: Tatiana Kolganova for the film "Deferred Happiness Syndrome

Best Actress: Valentina Telichkina in "The Vegetable Garden" by Larisa Sadilova.

Best Actor: Sergey Makovetsky in “The Art of Death” by Vladimir Beldian.

Best Screenplay: Andrei Karasov, Alexei Tyurikov, "Mint Cake" by Andrei Karasov.

Best Cinematography: Oleg Lukichev, "No Crying Allowed" by Natalia Nazarova.

A Special Diploma of the Jury "For having the knack for accurately defining the complex, the simple and the eternal, love!” was awarded to the picture "Our Winter", directed by Stepan Burnashev.

Natalya Nazarova picture "No Crying Allowed" won the award of the film press.

Larisa Sadilova, the director of the festival’s winning picture, thanked the festival for the award she received: I would like to thank Tobolsk’s residents, guests of the festival, and the esteemed members of the jury. I'm very happy that our picture, "The Vegetable Garden", won the festival’s Grand Prix. It is truly an honor! My congratulations to our entire film crew and, of course, to all of our actors. We are so happy! Thank you very much!".

In addition, a separate award for outstanding contribution to cinematography was presented at the festival’s closing ceremony to Alexander Pashutin, the People's Artist of Russia.

The ceremony was attended by the Festival’s President, producer Sergei Novozhilov, First Deputy Mayor of Tobolsk Yana Zubova, and Elena Belskaya, Head of LLC ZapSibNeftekhim’s Department of government relations and socio-economic projects.

We want to thank the festival’s organizers, participants and you, the audience. Throughout the duration of the festival, we were observing a lot of interest and high turnout both during the competitive film screenings and during the additional program of stage shows. The credit for this should go to the event’s organizers, the city administration, SIBUR, Tobolsk Drama Theater, and the festival’s audiences. It would be safe to say that the city of Tobolsk has been imbued with cultural initiatives that have a positive impact on the city’s comfortable and safe urban landscape, Elena Belskaya, Head of the Department for Government Relations and Socio-Economic Projects at ZapSibNeftekhim LLC, noted.

This is the second edition of the “Alafey Mountain” Festival. This time around, it was more challenging to have this festival, because every second festival always means certain things are expected of it. But, judging by the response of our audience, the public, and participating filmmakers, we haven't lowered the bar. We hope that the festival will become a good tradition. It is not fortuitous that the festival is hosted by the city of Tobolsk: today we reminisced about the film "The Mystery of the Golden Mountain" that was filmed in Tobolsk years ago and celebrated the birthday of Marina Yakovleva who was a member of its cast, Sergey Novozhilov, the Festival’s President, commented. On the one hand, Tobolsk is a city with a centuries-old history, known as the historical capital of Siberia, but, on the other hand, it is a modern city with an actively evolving cultural scene. It is a city where more than 40 films have been shot to date. This definitely makes it a region with strong cinema traditions.

The closing ceremony was attended by many famous filmmakers, theatrical and public figures, including People's Artist of Russia Natalia Gvozdikova, People's Artist of Russia Yuri Chernov, Honored Artist of Russia Svetlana Toma, Honored Artist of Russia Marina Yakovleva, Honored Artist of Russia Oksana Stashenko, actors Lisa Arzamasova, Anastasia Denisova, Maxim Kolosov, Ivan Soloviev, Vlad Kanopka, Evgeny Banifatov, Akim Tyshko, and Arsen Mukendi.