My Kith and Kin film traces victory at int'l festival in Russia

By AzerNews

The documentary "My Kith and Kin" by Azerbaijani film director Rodion Ismailov, a film about the journey of a child through her home country, received the best full-length documentary film award at the 23rd international film festival "Message to Man" held in Saint-Petersburg, Russia on September 21-28.

The film received the "Centaur" prize and 30,000 rubles (about $930) money award in the nomination of national documentary films. Three other participants were conferred awards as well.

Visitors of the festival had an opportunity to watch over 100 films, with four world premieres and 19 special displays, from 33 countries, including Iran, Japan, Brazil, Chile, China, South Africa Republic and Singapore over a week-long period.

The festival was founded to emphasize the important role of non-feature films in the cultural life of Russia and allows national documentary filmmakers to become more familiar with the world of international cinema.

Every year the festival presents some 50 Russian premieres and more than 300 films from around the world, screened in competitions and special programs.

The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Russia, the St. Petersburg city government and the Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg, Russia's second largest city.

Earlier, "My Kith and Kin" received an honorable mention at the LET'S CEE Film Festival held in Vienna on September 13-21.

The film was also included in the competition program of the international film festival "Filmfest Eberswalde" to be held in Germany on October 5-12.

Moreover, the documentary participated in the competition of the international film festival of documentary drama in Saratov, Russia, on September 11-17.

The storyline of "My Kith and Kin" is based on the first visit by lead character Lolita to Azerbaijan. Lolita personifies two cultures, as her mother is Russian and her father is Azerbaijani.

This delicate and compelling story describes a ten-year-old girl who comes to Azerbaijan for the first time to be acquainted with her father's relatives. Lolita aspires to learn about the culture and traditions of her Azerbaijani family members.

The 63-minute long film of the DS FILM Production Center was made with the support of the Ministry of Culture of Russia in the Tovuz region of Azerbaijan. Camera operator of the film is Mikhail Gorobchuk, music was composed by Vladimir Kuptsov, and the producers are Rodion Ismailov and Svetlana Dalskaya.

The film won "The best anthropologic film" award at the eighth Open Russian Anthropological Film Festival (RAFF) in April and was nominated for "Best Documentary" at the eleventh Almaty International Film Festival "Shaken's Stars".

The film was also shown at the international documentary film festival "Visions du Réel" ("The images of reality") in Nyon, Switzerland, in April.