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Moscow International Film Festival
A very popular festival that is held in Russia is the Moscow International Film Festival. It started way back in 1939, but only started becoming a regular event from 1959.
This year (2012) will be the 34th annual film festival, and will happen from the 21st June - 30th June 2012. They say the festival mirrors the social and political changes that take place within Russia, and that their modern history interests lots of guests from all over the world. They claim their festival is not only for the professionals and journalists, but for the audience themselves as well. It seems that there are many layers to this film festival, focusing on different areas of film. There is a section dedicated to the business side of this called the "Moscow Business Square" and there is a "Media Forum" who represent innovative and progressive experiments in visuality. It attract big stars in the film business, such as Michael Bay, Shia LaBoufe and Tyrese Gibson. (Noticeably, they're stars of Transformers, and this was just one day of the 33rd MIFF)
This festival is about film as a whole, celebrating and rewarding those who are claimed to be "masters" of world cinema. It's not about just animation itself. There is animation shown within the festival, as animation is a part of film, but it's not a major focus of the festival.
Open Russian Film Festival Kinotavr
Kinotavr is held in Sochi, Russia every year in June since 1991 and is the largest national film festival in Russia. It's a chance for top talents of Russia to come together and showcase their films. It's held over 10 days and it's filled with a variety of events so people can pick and choose what they want to see according to their interests. There are competitive, non-competitive and special screenings of the most interesting films of the year. There are also professional round tables, master classes, press conferences with cinematographers and a range of entertainment with concerts and shows.
Unlike the MIFF who celebrate international cinema, they only showcase Russian cinema. This year (2012), it will be held from the 3rd to the 10th June.
Open Film Festival for Students and Beginners
Held at the Moscow House of Cinema, this festival is about giving young writers, directors, filmmakers and animators a chance to showcase their work to the public and get their name known and reveal their talents to the industry. As well as showcasing films, there are other events held there as well, such as workshops, meetings with well known filmmakers, exhibitions and press conferences.
This year (2012), it will be held from 16th to the 22nd April.
Open Russian Festival of Animated Film
This festival is one that is solely based on animation and is recognised as the only professional showcase of animation originating from Russia . It was created in 1996, and is held in Suzdal. They do not only showcase feature films, but also TV commercials and music videos. They also have other events happening during the festival such as workshops, round tables, press conferences and presentations.
This year's (2012) festival has already happened. It took place from the 29th February to the 4th March.