Northern Lights Film Festival

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Northern Lights Film Festival. (Belarisian: кінафестываль «Паўночнае ззянне») is an annual feature and documentary film festival of the Nordic and Baltic countries held in Belarus. The festival was founded in 2015 by belarusian producer and director Volia Chajkouskaya with the support of the Office of the Council of Ministers of Northern European Countries in Lithuania.

Films from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland are screened at the film festival. And since 2020, the organizers have added a national Belarusian competition to the International program.

During the festival days and throughout the year, additional screenings, lectures, master classes, and other events for Belarusian directors, producers, and amateurs in both the field of feature and documentary cinema take place within the framework of the film festival.

The Greenlandic actress and singer Nukaka Coster-Waldau speaking during Northern Lights Fim Festival in Minsk in 2019

Over the years, the guests of Northern Lights Film Festival were the Swedish director Katja Wick, the Icelandic producer Anton Máni Svansson, the Norwegian writer Erlend Loe, the Latvian theater and film director Viestur Kairish, the Estonian producer Ivo Felt, the Finnish actress Pamela Tola, the Greenlandic actress and singer Nukaka Coster-Waldau, the Danish writer Peter Hoeg and other cultural and film figures.

Outstanding Belarusians also took part of the Northern Lights FF events as guests or moderators: philosopher Volha Shparaha, writer Tatsiana Zamirouskaya, activist Nick Ancipau, cultural expert Maxim Zhbankou, director Darja Žuk, and many others.

Since 2015, the film festival has been held in Minsk at the «Mir» cinema, with additional screenings in other cities of Belarus: Homiel, Viciebsk, and Hrodna. Since 2020, the festival has used online and hybrid formats, allowing Belarusians to watch modern world and Belarusian cinema from wherever they are. So, in 2022, separate screenings of Northern Lights FF and meetings with directors took place in Vilnius (Lithuania) and Tallinn (Estonia)

Northern Lights FF's Film Programs

Northern Lights FF is accepting feature, documentary, animation, and hybrid films. The festival traditionally has an International program (documentaries and feature films), a Belarusian competition, as well as additional programs. So, in 2020, it was possible to watch the Short Program, made up of 5 Swedish short films (curated by Ashley Smith); in 2021, a special program called «Baltic Wave», which included three films from Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia about revolutions and changes in these post-Soviet countries; in 2022, a special program of Ukrainian cinema called «UKRAINE MON AMOUR», dedicated to the brave struggle of the Ukrainian people for freedom and against Russian aggression, as well as an out-of-competition Belarusian program called «New Angle» with 7 Belarusian amateur films.

Belarusian competition

A full-fledged Belarusian program first appeared at the Northern Lights Film Festival in 2020. Then it included 7 documentaries and 1 feature movie: «Invisible Paradise» (documentary, dir. Daria Jurkevič), «Epitaph» (documentary, dir. Viktar Asliuk), «I Need the Handshakes» (documentary, dir. Andrei Kutsila), «My Father» (documentary, dir. Larysa Artiugina, Marta-Dariya Klinava), «Way Home» (documentary, dir. Arciom Lobač), «Boundaries» (documentary, dir. Yuliya Shatun), «In-touch» (documentary, dir. Maksim Shved, Ksenia Halubovič, Ales Lapo, Veranika Bandarovič), «Deserter» (feature, dir. Sasha Scelčanka).

In 2021, the Belarusian program became known as the Belarusian competition. This year, Belarusian films were reviewed for the first time by an international jury represented by Stephanie Goertz (a German journalist and film curator), Tristan Priimyagi (an Estonian film critic), and Lucy Virchen (an American journalist and film critic). The Belarusian competition included five films: «Common Language» (documentary, dir. Volia Chajkouskaya); «Sojka» (feature, dir. Anastasiya Sergienya); «Three Comrades» (feature, dir. Uladzimir Kazloŭ); «Kunashir» (documentary, dir. Uladzimir Kazloŭ); and «Papa» (hybrid, dir. Maryia Jakimovič).

In 2021, the jury of Northern Lights FF awarded the diploma for the Best Film in the Belarusian competition to Mariya Jakimovič, the director of the film «Papa»: «The film offers an incredibly personal and intimate look at a complicated family situation. Through the blending of different genres, the film is a love letter to a time that never existed, and it makes you think about the fragile relationships that are often very difficult to keep within the confines of one family.»

In 2022, the directors of 38 films submitted applications for participation in the Belarusian competition; 11 of them were chosen by the organizers to participate in the competition: «Alone» (documentary, dir. Micalai Сhaliezin, Natalia Kaliada, Andrew Smith), «A Date in Minsk» (hybrid, dir. Mikita Laŭrecki), «Handbook» (documentary, dir. Pavel Mažar), «Dima» (documentary, dir. Dzima Diadok), «Shirey Mara» (animation, dir. Nata Karneyeva), «Across the Rails» (documentary, dir. Antos Sivyh), «Summer of ’89» (feature, dir. Uladzimir Kazloŭ), «When Flowers Are Not Silent» (documentary, dir. Andrei Kutsila), «Mara» (hybrid, dir. Sasha Kulak), «DOMUM» (documentary, dir. Maksim Siry), «Borderline. Where the World Ends» (documentary, dir. Hanna Saŭčanka).

The international jury (Faroese director and screenwriter Sakaris Stora, Ukrainian producer Natalia Libet, and Finnish actress and director Pamela Tola) chose Sasha Kulak's film «Mara» as the winner of the Belarusian competition in 2022 and also gave special mentions to Andrei Kutsila's «When Flowers Are Not Silent» and «Shirey Mara» by Nata Karneyeva.

Advisory board

In 2022, the Northern Lights' Advisory Board came to be — an international advisory committee aimed at exchanging ideas. According to the organizers, together with members of the Board, they will look for new opportunities and form strategies for the development of Northern Lights FF, its concept, and its infrastructure, including for the benefit of the Belarusian film industry as a whole.

The Board consists of international and Belarusian experts in the fields of cinema, production, art management, and more. The number of board members may change and increase. At the moment, the Board includes strategy consultant Tamara Tatishvili (Sakartvelo (Georgia)/Belgium), producer Sten-Kristian Saluveer (Iceland), director and producer Darya Žuk (Belarus/USA), marketing expert Nadia Zeliankova (Belarus/Estonia), and producer Anton Máni Svansson (Iceland). The Board meets with the founder of the film festival, Volia Chajkouskaya, several times a year, both online and offline, for closed strategic meetings.

References

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