About Film Festival

II International Film Festival “Zerkalo” named after Andrei Tarkovsky

In the period from May, 26th till June, 1st, 2008, the II international film festival “Zerkalo” named after Andrei Tarkovsky took place in the Ivanovo region, on the native land of the great director. The film festival was devoted to the Centenary of the Russian cinematography and the 60th anniversary of State Film Fund. It was also the year of 90th anniversary of Ivanovo-Voznesensk Province.

The program of the festival was rich and various. The director of programs of fiction movie competition Sergei Lavrentiev tried to select films that coincide with aesthetics of Andrei Tarkovsky and his creative traditions. At the International Film Festival “Zerkalo” Russian cinema was presented by programs of fiction and non-fiction movie, by animation and documentary, and also by various retrospective shows. The program “Our new cinema” included 15 films of the most various genres and styles. All in all 141 films was shown during the festival. The showing of restored version of a film “Andrei Roublev” was a great event.

Films of the festival were shown in three of the cinemas of Ivanovo: “Lodz”, “Iskra” and “Sovremennik”, as well as in the halls of the drama theatre and the puppet-theatre. People in Shuya, Kineshma, Plyos and Yurievets also had an opportunity to visit film-showings in their towns.

During the International Film Festival “Zerkalo” 55 live talks were organized instead of 40 ones as it had been planned earlier. The spectators of Ivanovo could meet with such outstanding persons of the Russian and world cinema as Italian producer Stabele, film director Jos Stelling, director-animator Natalia Dabizha, operator Vadim Yusov, actor Yuri Nazarov, editor of a humorous newsreel for children “Eralash” Boris Grachevsky and others.

The Opening and Closing ceremonies took place in a hall of the Ivanovo musical theatre with a house full (2000 spectators). Every day during the festival on Pushkin Square performances of different creative groups took place. The Opening and Closing ceremonies, fragments of films – participants of the festival and animation films, documentary films about Andrei Tarkovsky and clips about main events of the festival were shown on large LED screens.

The colorful theatrical performance took place on May, 31 in Yurievets. It was just an emotional shock. Ballet group “Vozrozhdenie” (“Renaissance”), a circus group, theatre “Chudaki” (“Odd fellows”), collectives of the Ivanovo Philharmonic Society participated in the program “The Artist and the time”. The compères of the Opening and Closing ceremonies and also the performance in Yurievets were Honoured Artists of the Russian Federation Y.Rutberg and A.Lobotsky.

The extensive excursion program was offered to visitors and participants of the festival. Within the limits of the festival in the Ivanovo Museum of local lore and history named after D.G.Burylin a personal exhibition of picturesque works of the People’s Artist of Russia Lev Prygunov was held. This exhibition raised a great interest not only among visitors and participants of the festival, but among inhabitants of the region as well.

On May, 31 a new exposition “Crafts of the Ivanovo Region” was opened in Plyos. The opening of the exposition was dated specially to the festival.

About 40 thousand of spectators visited the II International Film Festival “Zerkalo” named after Andrei Tarkovsky from May, 25th till June, 1st.