XVII Kazan International Muslim Film Festival opened in Tatarstan capital

KAZAN: For the first time in its 17- year history, Kazan International Muslim Film Festival opening ceremony was organized at the Kazan Town Hall.

It traditionally started with guests and participants walking on the red carpet. The host of the ceremony was Russian theater and cinema actress, TV presenter and singer Tatiana Abramova and the co-host was the TNV presenter Ildar Kiyamov.

At the beginning of the ceremony, on behalf of the President of Tatarstan, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Tatarstan Vasil Shaykhrasiev welcomed the guests.

He said that the prestige of Kazan Film Festival grows every year, and this is a great credit for the guests who came to the capital of Tatarstan from different countries of the world.

“When we talk about art and culture, we go beyond all our relationships. Culture unites us, creates a single layer of respect, faith and trust”, the Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic said.

At the end of his speech, Shaykhraziev presented to the members of the Kazan Film Festival-2021 national headdresses – tubeteas and kalfak.

This year’s jury is headed by Elchin Musaoglu, an Azerbaijani film make,  with members from Egypt (Ashraf Dali), Syria (Almohannad Kalthom ), Russia (Valeria Baykeeva) and India (Kamal Swaroop). The rest of jury completed their mission via online as they could not travel to Kazan for different reasons.

The experts assessed 50 films of the competition program – 10 films each in five main nominations – fiction full and short film, documentary full and short film, as well as the “National Competition” for films from Tatarstan.

The films were selected for the main program by a commission led by Kazakh film expert and film critic, president of the Association of Film Critics of Kazakhstan Gulnara Abikeeva.

The guests of the opening ceremony were also the Minister of Culture of the Republic of Tatarstan Irada Ayupova and the rector of Kazan State Institute of Culture Rosa Akhmadieva.

The first Deputy Chairman of the Russian Mufti Council and the Russian Duma Rushan Khazrat Abbyasov also spoke before the opening ceremony of KMFMK-2021

He extended greetings to the present on behalf of the Chairman of the Council of Mufti of Russia and the DUM of Russia, the President of the KMFMK, Mufti Ravil Gainutdin.

′′For many years, the ancient city of Kazan has become the capital of the Islamic world for several days, opening its doors for participants of the Kazan International Muslim Film Festival,” he said.

“Muslims always look forward to watching and enjoying competition films, showing genuine interest in the work of filmmakers whose works reveal the beauty of the Islamic world and promote dialogue among cultures.”

The main nominations of the KMFMK were then announced to the audience.

The chairman of this year’s jury was invited to the stage where he recalled memories when he went to the cinema for the first time:

“I remember my trip to the cinema in my childhood; on the wall I saw a light from a projector, giving a miracle in the form of a movie. I fell in love with this light. Today, I truly admire people who gather their cinematographer friends like this, arrange a real Festival and give people this very light in the form of a film,” he said.

A preview of participating films in the official competition was displayed on the big screen. A special guest of Kazan Film Festival – theater and cinema actor, TV presenter Alexander Nosik read Joseph Brodsky’s poem ′′ Loneliness “.

Another guest of KMFMK-2021-Azerbaijani actor Vidadi Hasanov picked up the guitar and impressed those present with his vocal performance.

The opening ceremony host Tatiana Abramova gave the audience a brilliant composition ′′ Letter “. While AJA (Asia Journalist Association) President is a jury member, another AJA member, Rahul Aijaz, has his film “A Train Crosses the Desert” in the main competition, short feature films category.

The film has two poems by Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, Prison and A Train Crosses the Desert, translated into Sindhi by a senior AJA member, Nasir Aijaz.

Kazan Film Festival will have its closing ceremony on September 10, at the Pyramida cultural and entertainment complex.