The XXIII International Festival PiterKiT finished

The closing ceremony of the international stage of the XXIII International Student Film Festival PiterKiT took place on November, 28 in SPUFT.

SPUFT’s Rector Ekaterina Sazonova welcomed the guests. She congratulated the participants on the completion of the Festival and thanked everyone who was involved in the organisation of such a significant cultural event. The opening of the International stage of the Festival was held for the first time in the historical pavilion of the Lenfilm studio, which emphasised the long-standing relationship between the University and the studio, and marked a new stage in the development of cooperation as well.

General Producer of PiterKiT, Professor, Head of the Department of Film and Television Production at SPUFT, Natalia Gorina addressed the guests and participants and noted that this year every department of the University took part in the preparation and holding of the Festival. PiterKiT is incorporated in the educational process and introduces all students to various works of the film industry. 

The Grand Prix of the Festival and the Audience Choice: Best Film prize was awarded to the film Bebia, Babua, Anzorik, Me and Mum (All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S.A. Gerasimov (Russia), director – Raul Heydarov (workshop of A. Kott, V.  Kott, and A. Fenchenko).

The award Best Feature Film took Are You All Right? (All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography named after S.A. Gerasimov (Russia), director – Daniil Sergeyev (workshop of A. Kott, V.  Kott, and A. Fenchenko), cameraman – Maria Egorova, sound director – Evgeny Borisenko, producer – Polina Kamenskaya).

The prize Best Non-fiction Film was awarded to the film Bitter Honey (St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television (Russia), director – Julia Makarova (workshop of V. Vasiliev), cameraman - Sergey Sokolov (workshop of N.V. Volkov, S.M. Lando), sound engineer – Alexander Koznov, producer – Zlata Cheremnykh (workshop of V.Karev).

The prize Best Animated Film was won by the film Compromise (Ural State University of Architecture and Arts (Russia), director – Anna Isakova (workshop of V. Gurkalenko and M.Morozova), sound directors - Sergey Kuzminov, Ivan Khanzhin).

The prize for Best Full-length Debut Film was awarded to Edge of the Fractured Moon, director – Svetlana Samoshina, scriptwriter – Natalia Meshchaninova, art director – Dmitry Malich, cameraman – Yana Ritz, starring Anna Shepeleva, Victoria Tolstoganova, Masha Lobanova. 

The full list of all the awardees who received jury diplomas can be seen here.

During the international stage of the PiterKiT Festival the jury watched 49 films. 15 of which were the winners of the internal stage of the Festival, that was held among students of SPUFT. In the international stage they competed with other Russian and foreign film schools.  

The Festival is gaining more and more international exposure year by year. This year the jury members included director, screenwriter, professor of the Department of Film and Television Directing at the Faculty of Dramatic Arts in Belgrade Narcisoj Darijević (Serbia), and actor, director, PhD in Art History Yunchen Zhuang (China).     

The jury was chaired by director, actor, screenwriter, producer, winner of the KinoNews-2017 award of the BRICS Film Festival in China, Kim Druzhinin. He noted that the festival was held at a very high level, and the works that made it to the competition programme were carefully selected.

The results of the Script Contest were also summarised. The main prize named after V. I. Merezhko Best Script was won by Natalia Volkova - for the work Bury Me According to Your Rites (All-Russian State University of Cinematography named after S.A. Gerasimov (Russia), workshop of A. Borodyansky and O. Shevchenko).

The list of all awardees who received diplomas can be seen here.

The competition programme included 100 scripts. The screenplay competition is an important component of the Festival, as the domestic film industry needs talented screenwriters. This competition is another way to identify promising specialists, recognise their work and introduce them to industry representatives.

The International Youth Digital Media Art Festival (DMAF) was held as part of the PiterKiT Festival. DMAF winners were awarded at the closing ceremony of PiterKiT. The Grand Prix was awarded to the video game SPRINGBIRD (directed by Viktor Krasnenkov, workshop of I. Litovskaya).

Many informative unique events took place within the framework of the Festival as well, such as IV All-Russian Children's Short Film Festival Children's PiterKiT, master-classes by prominent representatives of domestic and foreign film schools, creative meetings with the maestros of the film industry, numerous screenings, and ceremonies. The event was widely covered by the media.

PiterKiT once again confirmed its status as an International Festival included in the register of cultural events of the Ministry of Culture. For all participants, honoured guests and winners it was an unforgettable day filled with discoveries, acquaintances, communication, exchange of experience and new opportunities. Bright, incredible, large-scale - a true celebration of cinema!

You can see a detailed photo report from the event in our VK group ВКонтакте.