OPEN CINEMA

INTERNATIONAL
SHORTAND ANIMATION
FILM FESTIVAL
SAINT-PETERSBURG
__________________________________________
The founder and organizer: art-center BEREG
with support of
Culture Committee of the St. Petersburg Government
State Museum of St. Petersburg History
Saint-Petersburg Documentary Film Studio

=> Regulations of ISAFF OPEN CINEMA in Saint Petersburg
=> The application form for participation

OPEN CINEMA IS AN OUTSTANDING FILM FESTIVAL FOR SAINT PETERSBURG AND RUSSIA AS A WHOLE. IT IS THE LARGEST INTERNATIONAL FORUM OF SHORT FILMS IN RUSSIA AND A SOLE OPEN-AIR FILM FESTIVAL IN SAINT-PETERSBURG, ARRANGED ON THE BEACH OF THE NEVA RIVER AT THE PETER AND PAUL FORTRESS. THE FESTIVAL PRESENTS SHORT AUTHORED FILMS SHOWED ON A LARGE SCREEN IN THE VERY CENTER OF THE CULTURAL CAPITAL OF RUSSIA. THE FESTIVAL PROGRAM INCLUDES FILMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD, THANKS TO OUR PARTNERSHIP WITH A NUMBER OF LEADING FILM FESTIVALS AND STUDIOS FROM RUSSIA AND ABROAD. OPEN CINEMA IS AN ART-HOUSE FESTIVAL WHICH GOAL IS TO DEMOCRATIZE AND PROMOTE AUTHORED FILMS AS WELL AS DISCOVER NEW NAMES FOR THE RUSSIAN AUDIENCE.

IDEOLOGY

Principe of Openness
OPEN CINEMA is a festival of short films, animation and audio-visual arts. Apart from the open position, we are striving for uniting cinematographic communities from Russia and abroad in a single body. At OPEN CINEMA everyone gets a chance to penetrate the international authored film tendencies and trends through the integrated into OPEN CINEMA variety of independent film festival programs from around the world.

Principle of Independence and Professionalism
OPEN CINEMA is a young festival, whose mission is to maintain and develop an individual approach to cinematograph. OPEN CINEMA is eager to attract interesting and creative people, spectators as well as artists, who appreciate authored individual vision of contemporary film trends. Selection criteria for festival films include more semantic and artistic rather than entertaining characteristics of the film.
Festival’s main figure is a filmmaker! Since a short film format is usually a start for young film makers, they get an opportunity to express their own position and vision of film-making through this very trend without facing pressure from producers or being under influence of mainstreams in the cinema world. The festival constantly stands for quality and professional approach as well as blends the traditional and experimental in its program, thanks to which it gives birth to innovative ideas and concepts in the film art.

Principle of Relevant and Democratic Approach
OPEN CINEMA aims to attract as many as possible spectators to the authored film, and that becomes the reason of the festival preference to the relevant and popular forms of presenting its intellectual product which are open-air format anda number of extra elements for creating the right atmosphere at the event such as contemporary theatre, music and other performances.

Principle of Art Synthesis
One of the peculiarities of ISAFF OPEN CINEMA is a synthesis of the cinema and other forms of the contemporary art such as music, theatre, street performances, fashion shows, art exhibitions, video installations, etc. This is the synthesis through which film-makers get new ideas for the creating and spectators get new angles for the perceiving. OPEN CINEMA is an art fair!

OPEN CINEMA BACKGROUND
It started in 2004. This first time the international program of short films was screened in the premises of the Peter and Paul Fortress in the framework of the VERTICAL international art festival and was highly praised by the audience. After that in 2005 the project was invited to be shown in Dresden, Germany. In the summer of the same year the founder of the project art-centre BEREG chose the right and unique open-air venue for the new festival which became the embankment of the Peter and Paul Fortress. They fixed a screen on the fortress wall and the audience found the seats on the sand itself. That very first time the program was called “Towns inside towns” and included short animations and authored fiction films from around the world.

The Festival Scope
OPEN CINEMA is really popular among the wide audience. It is a well-known event not only in Saint Petersburg where it’s basically held, but in other parts of Russia too. It is steadily attended by a large number of spectators a number of which is estimated up to eight thousand people at average. Closed venues where the festival is also held annually accommodate an impressive number of visitors as well.
OPEN CINEMA Festival is annually attended by 9 – 15 thousand spectators as a whole!