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Awaiting VOICES
There are only two and a half months left before Young European Film
Festival VOICES and preparation works get underway. The founders of this
international project are RF Ministry of Culture, Vologda Oblast government,
Vologda city authorities and Globale, a French company.
Igor Lysenko, the director of VOICES, and Maxim Gorbov,
the festival marketing director, are telling about this film forum which so
many people have already liked.
Igor, Maxim, what can Vologda citizens and guests of our city
expect to see at the festival this year?
Igor Lysenko: First of all the viewers can expect everything they
have got used to at the VOICES. The main thing is they will see good films.
We have one of the best festival programs of European films in Russia which
you can’t see anywhere but in Vologda. Since 2013 is Russian- Dutch
Bilateral year, our festival is dedicated to Dutch cinematography. We have
prepared a special program “Country of the tulips” where we are going to
present a retrospective show of Dutch directors Ios Stelling and Paul
Verhoeven. One of the features of the non-competition program – the growth
of the number of Russian films, for we produce quite many good pictures,
what is more, Vologda people like our national films.
The program of the festival is basically shaped, although there are some
possible changes. Now the VOICES is included into the key Russian festivals,
we are starting to make friends with our partners, and we are going to have
two programs dedicated to other film forums - “Spirit of Fire” from
Khanty-Mansiysk and “Kinotavr” from Sochi. The representatives of the
organizing committees of these festivals will tell about their projects,
share their experience. We hope that in future people in Sochi and
Khanty-Mansiysk will know about our festival too.
Every year gives us more and more experience in terms of organization.
This year we have made a very important step forward: we formed a strong
team to prepare for the festival – the management of the festival with Maxim
Gorbov in charge.
During the festival there always take place some workshops. Which
maestro of movie-making will run them this year?
Maxim Gorbov: One of the workshops will be run by a famous Dutch
director Ios Stelling. We are also anticipating the workshop of Marina
Razbezhkina, a script writer and a documentalist. We are planning to change
the format of the event slightly - it is not going to be just a meeting with
a creative person but also a real workshop, which will take a whole day and
where Marina Razbezhkina will share her experience with Vologda people who
are interested in film-making. They will have a chance to get specific
recommendations.
Are you planning to install any new formats or arrange new sites
for the events?
Igor Lysenko: We are working on an interesting large project “Picnic”,
which is going to appear in tandem with the film program. It is our Open Air
or relatively speaking “creative campus” of the festival. It will be
interesting for those who don’t go to the cinema but who like exclusive
events. They will include communication in the open air, different lectures
and meetings, you will be able just to lie on the grass, have a bite, read a
book, listen to music – a kind of friendly project of collective pastime in
the open air. In Moscow they often have such events but for Vologda it’s a
new direction. It should highlight the main feature of our festival –
European air – and to make more Vologda citizens aware of the VOICES.
Maxim Gorbov: One of the places where we intend to have such
“Picnic” is a park on the bank of Vologda river with a monument to letter “O”.
The most important thing is to have good weather, although judging by
previous experiences we are usually lucky with the weather.
Every year we show films in Konstitorsky courtyard and this festival is
not going to be an exception. There we are planning to show a picture of
Alexander Dovzhenko Earth. It is the film of the 30th, film critics rank it
as high as Bronenosets Potyomkin. Earth is a silent movie and the music will
be provided by a Ukrainian ethno-folk group “Dakha-Brakha”. This picture
“travels” around world famous film forums all the time, and Vologda will be
one of them.
Who is going to have an honor to be the Muse of the VOICES this
year?
Igor Lysenko: We are dreaming to have an actress Carice van
Hauten as a Muse of the festival this year, she is well-known by her roles
in Games of Thrones series, films Operation Valkyrie, Black Butterflies and
many others.
Who will be included in the jury of the VOICES?
Igor Lysenko: At the present time we already have three members
of the jury, who confirmed their consent. One of them is Yana Troyanova, a
Russian actress who visited the previous VOICES festival. Vologda accepted
her very well and she was pleased to come to the festival once again. One
more person who we wanted to see in the jury even last year and who also
gave his consent is Tchéky Karyo, a Turkish-born French actor, famous for
his role in Luk Besson’s film Nikita. He was nominated for the César Award
for his starring role in La Balance (1982), Karyo received the Jean Gabin
Prize in recognition of his talent.
We have a tradition to invite into the jury somebody who manages one of
the ally festivals. This way, so far we have had in the jury Andrei
Halpahchi, the director of Kiev International Film Festival Youth and
Stephan Kitanov, the president of the International Film festival in Sophia.
In 2013 it will be Stephan Laudin, the director of Warsaw International film
Festival and manager of Warsaw film fund.
Now we are negotiating with other members of the team, as it was during
last years we would like to have representatives of different film cultures,
different ages, people with different experiences. Nowadays we are well
known in Europe, the VOICES is considered to be one of the most attractive
Russian festivals. That is why we have people who want to get into our jury
and we have an opportunity not only to invite but also to choose.
What events can be expected on the threshold of the VOICES? Are we
going to have any previews?
Maxim Gorbov: Yes, of course. At the end of May and the beginning
of June we are planning to set up a preview in Lenkom cinema. The viewers
will be able to see the picture the Hunt of a Dutch director Thomas
Vinterberg, who will head the jury in one of the programs of the Cannes .
And by the middle of June a promo product will be ready and tickets for the
festival will be able to be bought.
Besides, 29 April we are arranging a new video contest. If previously it
had a name “I love you, Vologda” and its task was to show the unique
character of the Oblast, then this year it has got a new name –“Vologda
represented by people”. The emphasis is made on the personalities of people,
on what they think about, what they do and create. Having analyzed the
contests of the previous years we took into account all the wishes and
comments of the participants, so we decided to make it more specific, focus
our attention on Vologda citizens themselves. It may be the portrayals of
famous and not famous citizens. This will help people to look closer at each
other and will give an extra reason to create and communicate.
What is the reason for the changing of the logotype which the fans
of the festival have already got used to?
Igor Lysenko: The old logotype although being very nice reminded
by its stylistics of the colors of the satirical “Okna ROSTA” – a series of
agitation posters of the 20th. Since our festival is a festival of young
European films, we wanted some kind of “rejuvenation” also of the logotype.
A new one is good for being associated both with the megaphone, the main
symbol of the festival, and a bow tie. To my mind the most important thing
is that it can change colors, adjusting to any circumstances and
demonstrating this way the array of voices, which we present at the VOICES.
It is one more step toward the development of the festival, thus we are
saying that everything only begins and we hope will continue for many years
on.
Interview by Irina SOROKINA
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