The "Message To Man" International Documentary, Short and Animated Films Festival kicks off at the Rodina cinema and Dom Kino on June 15 and runs through June 22 showcasing literally hundreds of films from around the globe. This year's special program includes Russian animation from 2001-2004, early films by British director Peter Greenaway and Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski, as well as the best of European experimental films.

This is the fourteenth time that the "Message to Man" festival has taken place. It was established in December 1988. In 1994 short feature films and animated films were included in the festival program, while the festival itself changed its name to "Message To Man."

In its first years the festival was held once every two years, but now it's an annual event. From the fifth festival in 1995 onward, the debuts have been reserved for a separate competition and have been judged against each other, rather than against films which have been shown elsewhere previously.

The first part of this year's festival program includes the International Competition for which 42 films have been selected. Among them are works by animators such as Gerrit van Dijk from the Netherlands, Paul Driessen from Canada, Alexei Dyomin and Sergei Ainutdinov from Russia, along with the documentary film makers Ulrike Koch from Germany and Sergei Loznitsa from Russia, and short-film masters, such as Gerardo Tort from Mexico and Per Carleson from Sweden.

The second part of the festival is the International Debut Competition, containing 37 films from all over the world. Forty-two films make up the national "Documentary films of Russia" competition. "Message To Man" this year features Russian animated films made in the 21st century, early works by Peter Greenaway and Krzysztof Kieslowski (supported respectively by the diplomatic missions of Britain and Poland in St. Petersburg), the premiere of "Docs in Europe-3," a program of short films from Europe, the best Italian short films and many others.

News source: www.sptimes.ru
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