New festival logo from 2006[1]
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| Location | Sochi, Russia |
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| Language | Russian |
| Website | http://www.kinotavr.ru/en/ |
Kinotavr (Russian: Кинотавр[2]), also known as the Sochi Open Russian Film Festival is an open film festival held in the resort cityofSochi, Russia annually in June since 1991, until it was cancelled in the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.[3][4] Alexander Rodnyansky said: "This year the festival will not take place, it will be rescheduled for a period when we survive the current political events and can return to the cinema, including to understand what happened to the country and to all of us."[3]
From 1994 to 2005 the festival consisted of two parts: the Open Russian Film Festival (ORFF) and the International Film Festival (IFF).[5] As of 2008 it was the largest national film festival in Russia.[6] There is a second film festival, known as Sochi International Film Festival and Awards.[7]
The word Kinotavr is a portmanteau (in Russian) of "Cinema" and "...taur" (as in CentaurorMinotaur).
The history of the festival can be traced back to the Soviet era when in 1990 Mark Rudinstein organized his “Festival of Un-bought Cinema” in Podolsk, Moscow Region. It was an attempt to support national film production and distribution in the time of social, political and economic turmoil in the USSR when film financing (up until then provided by the state) was reduced and national distribution network had collapsed.[8] In 1991 the festival got its nowadays name “Kinotavr” and was relocated to Sochi. In 1994 it already consisted of two parts: the Open Russian Film Festival (ORFF) and the International Film Festival (IFF), registered with the International Federation of Associations of Film Producers (FIAPF). In 2005 “Kinotavr” brand was bought by Alexander Rodnyansky, the management switched its focus onto national market and IFF part was stopped.[5] Kinotavr now was aimed at becoming “a powerful mechanism in the development of a film industry”[9] in Russia and then also continued to make "emphasis on international promotion of Russian product”.[10] That change also gave the festival permanent programmer Sitora Alieva an opportunity to "play down the rivalry between Kinotavr and the Moscow Film Festival, also held in June".[11]
Over the history the following prizes have also been awarded:
