Learn all about the Moscow International Film Festival
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| Hello, and welcome to the Culture Class- Holidays in Russia Series at RussianPod101.com. In this series, we’re exploring the traditions behind Russian holidays and observances. I’m Jenny, and you're listening to Season 1 Lesson 25 - Moscow International Film Festival |
| Did you know that every year, Russia hosts one of the world’s oldest film festivals, with the only older one being the Venice Film Festival? It's the Moscow International Film Festival, which in Russian is called Московский международный кинофестиваль (Maskofskiy mezhdunarodnyy kinafestival'), the most famous Russian film festival in the world. In this lesson, we will discuss the details of this event and its significance to the Russian film industry. “Russian film industry” in Russian is российская киноиндустрия. |
| Now, before we go into more detail, we’ve got a question for you- |
| Do you know what the initial color of the main carpet runner was, or главная ковровая дорожка in Russian, of the Moscow International Film Festival? |
| If you don't already know, you’ll find out a bit later, so keep listening. |
| The Moscow International Film Festival took place for the first time in 1935 under the name Soviet Film Festival in Moscow. However, it has only regularly been held since 1959. Today, the film festival takes place every year at the end of June and lasts for ten days. The most prestigious award for the festival is that for the best film. The best film is not only awarded with the glamorous title, but also the statue of Golden St. George, which in Russian is «Золотой Святой Георгий» («Zalatoy Svyatoy Georgiy»), and depicts the fight between St. George the Victorious and the dragon. At the film festival, a Silver St. George is also awarded for the best actor or best director. |
| The film festival’s president is Nikita Mikhalkova, a famous Russian actor and director. At different points in time, the film festival’s main award has been won by famous directors such as Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, Stanley Kramer, and Sergei Bondarchuk. Among the Russian films, the Golden St. George was awarded to such films as “Pete on the Way to Heaven”, which in Russian is Петя по дороге в Царствие Небесное (Petya po doroge v Tsarstviye Nebesnoye), “Dreaming of Space”, which in Russian is Космос как предчувствие (Kosmas kak pretchustviye), “Our Own”, in Russian Свои (Svai), and “Traveling with Pets”, in Russian Путешествие с домашними животными (Puteshestviye s damashnimi zhyvotnymi) |
| Throughout its history, the Moscow Film Festival has been attended by world-famous stars such as Elizabeth Taylor, Robert De Niro, Quentin Tarantino, Charlize Theron, and Will Smith. In 2013, the most anticipated visiting star was Brad Pitt. The films from the Moscow International Film Festival are shown in movie theaters in downtown Moscow. In order to see the film festival movies, all you need to do is buy tickets at the relevant movie theater. By the way, “movie theater” in Russian is кинотеатр. |
| So, returning to our quiz, do you know what the initial color of the main carpet runner of the Moscow International Film Festival was? |
| Initially, the main runner carpet of the Moscow International Film Festival was green. It was only in 2012 when the 34th Film Festival took place in the October movie theater that the carpet’s color was changed to red. |
| So listeners, how do you like this lesson? Did you learn something new? |
| Does your country play host to a movie festival? |
| Thank you for listening to this series, everyone. Bye for now! |
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