Minsk International Film Festival "Listapad" to start in BelarusNovember 1

The anniversary XXX Minsk International Film Festival (MIFF) "Listapad" will be held in Belarus from November 1 to 8 under the slogan "Cinema with a Quality Mark", BELTA reports.

The first festival "Listapad" was held in 1994. The film forum was intended to unite the best films (feature and documentary) created in the post-Soviet space. It debuted under the name "Festival of Post-Soviet Cinema "Listapad". Films from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan took part in the first forums. Over time, the film festival expanded, gained authority, and in 2003 officially acquired international status. At that time, films from Poland, Russia, Serbia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, the USA, Iran, China, and Japan were presented in Minsk.

Initially, the jury of filmmakers, journalists, and viewers made their verdict at the competition. In 1996, it was decided to make the audience award the main prize of the film festival. Since 2010, the winner has been determined by a professional jury.

In 2001, the grand opening of "Listapad" was held for the first time at the country's main concert venue - the Palace of the Republic.

The main themes of the anniversary XXX Minsk International Film Festival "Listapad" will be the 100th anniversary of Belarusian cinema and the 30th anniversary of the festival. A large non-competition program and screenings of films that were awarded festival awards in previous years are planned.

In 2024, more than 3.4 thousand applications from 124 countries were submitted for participation in the festival. Traditional competition programs will be presented: feature films, non-fiction films, animation films, films for children and youth audiences "Listapadzik", "Cinema of the Youth".

In addition, this year two competitions have returned to the competition program of the film festival: the national competition and the national film schools. The national competition will show films created by talented Belarusian directors. The national film schools competition will present bright student works of representatives of leading film schools.

The opening and closing ceremonies of the anniversary film festival will be held on the stage of the Palace of the Republic. "Listapad" will open with the Belarusian-Russian film "Black Castle", based on the novel by Vladimir Korotkevich "Black Castle Olshansky".

The films will be screened in the cinemas "Pobeda", "Mir", "Central", "Pioneer" and "Belarus".

The "Pobeda" cinema will also host the Days of National Cinema, where in addition to films, exhibitions dedicated to the participating countries will be presented. Belarusians will be able to see rare and exotic films. Films from India, Iran, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Zimbabwe and the Sakha Republic (Russia) have been selected.

The jury of the XXX Minsk International Film Festival will include famous figures and leading experts in the field of international cinema.

The organizers of "Listapad" promise a rich program. In addition to competitive and non-competitive screenings, the festival will also organize open days at the Belarusfilm studio. There will also be creative meetings and master classes from film industry professionals.