Minsk International Film Festival Listapad 2023

A record number of entries – 2,087 – from 107 countries were submitted to the film festival, which is the biggest festival in Belarus and one of the largest ones in Europe. The 29th Minsk International Film Festival Listapad caught the attention of critics and viewers before it even started. It officially kicked off at the House of Cinema in Minsk on 17 November. This year it was held under the motto “Creating the Future.” The first movie screened at the festival was the youth comedy Filmmakers by the Belarusian director Kirill Khaletsky.

One of the highlights of the film festival was the celebration of the 100th anniversary of Belarusian cinema. The celebratory program featured master classes, meetings with famous producers, directors and actors, as well as screenings of old movies, including timeless Soviet classics like Walking the Streets of Moscow; Welcome, or No Trespassing; Mimino; Beware of the Car; Kin-dza-dza.

The simultaneous launch of the film festival throughout the country was this year’s novelty: with an official ceremony taking place in Minsk, the festival program kicked off in more than 80 cinemas of Belarus. The guests of honor at the opening ceremony in the House of Cinema were Russian producer Igor Ugolnikov (the chairman of the jury), Russian film historian Alexander Semenyuk, guests from China, Serbia and other countries.

The Listapad Film Festival 2023 promises an interesting mix of events! The Children's and Youth Film Festival Listapadzik kicked off prior to the official opening ceremony to offer eight multi-genre works. The Cinema of the Young features four films while the animation competition comprises 36 films from 15 countries. The non-fiction program includes 14 works from seven countries. Days of Kazakh, Russian, Pakistani and Syrian cinema will be held as part of the out-of-competition program.

The Listapad Film Festival 2023 will feature a perspective of the world cinema development through a journey around national cinema schools. Problem solving is the main theme uniting this year’s screenings. According to the artistic director of the Actor's Studio Theater, People's Artist of Belarus Alexander Efremov, Listapad is becoming a festival of cinema that is made for the audience and focuses on people.