Minsk International Film Festival Listapad

The Minsk International Film Festival Listapad is a large film forum bringing together famous filmmakers, actors, cinema fans.

Listapad solemn opening ceremony The program of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad is rich and uniqie. The main competition and the competition among young directors feature story films and documentaries. The Children's and Youth Film Festival Listapadzik is held within the framework of the festival. The MIFF’s program is always very eventful: out-of-competition and retrospective shows of movies, creative meetings, master-classes, presentations and exhibitions.

The best movies are presented at the Minsk Film Festival. Festival participants and laureate movies of international film forums are the guests of the main festival competition. The audience and film experts’ recognized, most promising young author’s debut films, are presented at the young directors film competition.

History of the Festival

The First Festival Forum Listapad was held in Minsk in 1994. It was known as the international movie festival of the CIS countries and the Baltic States Listapad till 2002. Cinematographers, journalists and audience were the members of the festival’s jury. Nikita Mikhalkov's Anna: 6-18 was very much appreciated at the festival in 1994.

In 1996, the Audience Award was the main festival prize. But since 2010 the winner has been chosen by professional jury.

Since 2001 Listapad solemn opening ceremony is traditionally held at the Palace of the Republic, Belarus’ main stage.

In 2009, the tickets for the opening and closing ceremonies were sold for the first time.

Listapad red carpet The Minsk International Film Festival Listapad acquired a new status in 2011 after the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) granted it a FIAPF temporary accreditation.

In 2013, following the probationary period, the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad got the permanent accreditation from the International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) in recognition of the high quality of the festival. Listapad was added to the list of the world’s most prestigious film festivals among which are the famous film festivals in Berlin, Venice, Cannes, Montreal and Moscow. Since 2017 FIPRESCI has presented its awards at Listapad as well.

The annual festival attendance is over 40,000 people. Listapad has hosted such cinema celebrities as Fanny Ardant, Claire Denis, Andrei Zviagintsev, Emir Kusturica, Krzysztof Zanussi, Brillante Mendoza, Denis Cote, Sergei Loznitsa, and others.

Listapad’s jury and awards

Listapad award ceremony Six jury panels work at the MIFF Listapad, each announces the winners and gives prizes. The most valuable awards are Listapad Gold (the award for The Best Film), Listapad Silver (awarded by international film press for Film as Art Phenomenon), Listapad Bronze (awarded according to viewership votes for the Best Story Film).

Prestigious awards are given for documentaries, children and youth films at Listapadzik.

The special prize of President of the Republic of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko "For Cinema Humanism and Spirituality" is presented at the Festival.

25th Minsk International Film Festival Listapad

The 25th edition of the film festival was dedicated to famous director and one of the festival’s most loved participants Kira Muratova. The slogan of this year’s forum referred to Kira Muratova’s movie Getting to Know the Big, Wide World.

This year the festival featured 167 films from 48 countries. Two countries – South Africa and Kenya – made their debut at the festival. The Golden Listapad Grand Prix for Best Film went to “I do not care if we go down in history as barbarians” directed by Radu Jude (Romania, Czechia, France, Bulgaria, Germany).

Minsk International Film Festival Listapad 2019

The 26th Minsk International Film Festival Listapad was held under the slogan “To Joy”. It is a reference to the film To Joy of Swedish director Ingmar Bergman. The visual basis of that year’s festival was a road which symbolizes a journey into the world of feelings, of the mind and gives a better understanding of one’s self.

The Listapad 2019 lineup featured various films and genres: dramas, comedies, melodramas, action films, national blockbusters, and so on.

The feature film competition was include 12 films. They tell about understanding the ultimate joy and achieving the catharsis, Listapad's program director, film critic Igor Sukmanov said.

The documentary film competition was feature 13 films. A total of 12 works of young directors from various counties were shortlisted for the Youth on the March competition. All the films depict stark reality and attempts to escape it.

The Belarusian national competition was held for the sixth time. Competing in the event were five feature films, nine documentaries, and six animation films. A lot of them had already been honored at other international festivals. For example, they are Olga Abramchik’s The Coach, Daria Demura’s Hopscotch, Natalia Zhamoidik’s One Family, Ben Gez and Sasha Kulakov’s Mercury Chronicles, Andrei Kutilo’s Summa, Yeva-Katerina Makhova’s Wintering, Aleksandr Mikhalkovich’s My Granny from Mars, Yuri Timofeev’s The Great Journey of Prince Mikolaj Krzysztof Radziwill the Orphan, and Maksim Shved’s Pure Art.

The children’s film competition Listapadzik was show eight films on 2-5 November.

The festival week was also include a non-competitive program of feature films. Six sections of the program were titled Special Screenings, Master Class, Lions Bears Palm Branches, Midnight Passion, Once Upon A Time in the East, and Russian Premieres. Those sections encompassed 20 films shot in Canada, Belarus, the Philippines, France, China, Japan, Belgium, Norway, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Russia and other countries. The non-competitive program of documentary films included 26 films divided into eight sections.

Minsk International Film Festival Listapad 2020

The 27th edition of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad was due to be held on 6-13 November. Its slogan, Magic of the Image, sought to underline the unique nature of cinema. However, the film festival was canceled. “Due to the difficult epidemiological situation, the organizing committee decided to cancel all events of the 27th edition of the Minsk International Film Festival Listapad in 2020,” the Culture Ministry informed.