The 3rd Irish Film Festival has opened in Moscow, giving residents of the capital a chance to get acquainted with the best of contemporary Irish cinema.
Practically all the films boast a whole set of awards from film forums and academies – for example, the short “Fifty Percent Grey,” portraying a sergeant who wakes up one grey morning all alone with a TV set in front of him and a gun in his hand, was nominated for an Academy Award, as well as “Granny O'Grimm's Sleeping Beauty,” showing a grandmother who tells her granddaughter a new version of “Sleeping Beauty,” scaring the girl to death.
Among other festival films, there is another Oscar nominee, a celebrated animation of Celtic mythology (“The Secret of Kells”), a documentary about surfing an island (“Waveriders”), and a comedy gangster thriller (“Perrier's Bounty”).
The organizers of the festival noted that cultural links between Russia and Ireland have very deep roots.
“The links between the countries were established as far as back as the 19th century,” Philip McDonagh, Ambassador of Ireland, told RT. “They are especially close in the field of literature. Pushkin and Lermontov translated some Irish poets, Karamzin translated Oliver Goldsmith. Oscar Wilde was very popular in Russia. Irish writers were interested in Russian ones, and vice versa. Filmmakers should be a bit the same.”
Another aim of the festival is to maintain connections with Irish expats in Russia.
“We try to project Ireland around the world and to make contact with Irish expats. We also try to promote our country as a tourist destination and to attract more investments,” said Dich Roche, Irish Minister of European Affairs.
So far, the festival has been a success.
“This is the second biggest film festival held in Moscow all year round – that makes me really happy,” McDonagh said. “It makes me feel my job is very easy to do in Russia.”
RT
