Guests of this year’s Odessa International Film Festival
Two Academy Award winners, Roger Corman and Jiří Menzel, are the first confirmed guests of this year’s Odessa International Film Festival (July 12-20, 2013). Both will deliver lectures at OIFF’s Summer Film School. OIFF will also present a retrospective to give tribute to Sergei Paradjanov - one of the most controversial and internationally celebrated filmmakers of the former USSR.
Kiev/Berlin, February 5th, 2013. American film producer, director and actor Roger Corman (*1926) is known for his huge body of work, which includes cult titles such as LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS (1960), VON RICHTHOFEN AND BROWN (1971) or DEATH RACE 2000 (1975). In 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award "for his rich engendering of films and filmmakers". Many of Hollywood's today legends have worked with Roger Corman – among others Francis Ford Coppola, Martin Scorsese, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro. Students of the OIFF Summer Film School will have a unique chance to profit from Corman’s vast experience as he will deliver a workshop during the Festival.
Another lecturer at the OIFF Summer Film School is Czech Academy Award-winning director and actor Jiří Menzel (*1938). He won his Oscar for Best Foreign Movie in 1967, at age of 28, with his feature debut CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS. His movies were mostly banned from screenings and distribution by the Czechoslovakian communist censorship. His surreal comedy LARKS ON A STRING was filmed in 1969, but only released in 1990 after the fall of the Communist regime. With LARKS ON A STRING Jiří Menzel won the Golden Bear at the 40th Berlin International Film Festival.
Sergei Paradjanov in retrospective
OIFF is proud to announce the line up of the first program section, a retrospective of director Sergei Paradjanov’s works (1924 – 1990). Paradjanov lived and worked in Kiev for many years. Throughout his career, he had many conflicts with the Soviet regime, which led to his imprisonment. After wide international protests, Paradjanov was released from jail in 1977, but was banned from film making for many years.
The retrospective includes both Paradjanov’s greatest films (SHADOWS OF FORGOTTEN ANCESTORS (1964), COLOR OF POMMEGRANATES (1969), etc) and documentaries about the iconic filmmaker. Also, OIFF presents the 2013 release of PARADJANOV, directed by Serge Avedikian and Olena Fetisova, starring award winning actor Serge Avedikian. The film will have its Ukrainian premiere at the Festival.
The 4th edition of OIFF – present at the Berlinale
The Odessa International Film Festival is one of the fastest growing festivals in Eastern Europe. The 2012 edition featured 85 films in 10 programs. Heart of the festival is the International Competition, screening mostly international or national premieres. The festival's Grand Prix for the Best Movie - The Golden Duke - is awarded by the audience.
As a unique highlight, the festival also offers open-air sea-view screenings at the legendary Potemkin Stairs with the capacity to seat 15’000 viewers. The Festival line up also includes a Competition of the latest films from Ukraine. OIFF awards the first and only Ukrainian National Award for the Best Ukrainian Film.
