XXXIV Open Documentary Film Festival "ROSSIYA" to host special TV BRICS screenings

On Monday, 2 October, the XXXIV Open Documentary Film Festival "ROSSIYA" started in Ekaterinburg. The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives.

The TV BRICS International Media Network will present a special programme of directors from the five countries at the festival.

"Heihe National Forest Park" (China) Terns, long-legged sandpipers and plovers are rare species of birds. All of them live in the wetlands and form a whole world with its own rules and natural laws. See how the inhabitants of the Heihe National Forest Park interact in this short film from the Celestial Empire.
Directed by Zhao Hai and Zhao Mandy.

"O, Kasie" (South Africa). The author of the film calls it a video poem. It is a dedication to a fading land - the town of Kokosi in South Africa, which the locals call Kasie. The word kasie means "locale, location" in Afrikaans. Due to overcrowding in the big cities, people are being forced to move to similar once abandoned by farmers from the West or simply uninhabited places. Infrastructure comes to these neighbourhoods at a very late stage. People have to create their own conditions after they move in. The short film "O, Kasie" immerses in the atmosphere of such African settlements, where time seems to have frozen. But there is life, and it wants to develop. Directed by Paul Zisiwe.

"Free Flying" (India)
This documentary film tells the story of Fly Squad, a teenage community in Kochi, Kerala. It tells the story of the important stages of the formation of the team, the joys and sorrows the members have faced along the way. This film is an opportunity to witness the revolution taking place in the world of skateboarding. Directed by Harikrishna Kunnath.

The films are available for viewing from 11:00 am to 11:40 am local time in the Small Hall of the Film House on 3 October.

The award ceremony of the XXXIV Open Documentary Film Festival "ROSSIYA" will be held on 7 October.

The TV BRICS holds annual screenings of BRICS documentary films at international festivals in India (Innovative Film Festival), Brazil (BRICS Film Festival at UNILA University), as well as during the Beijing Documentary Film Week and the Beijing Children's Film Festival.

Last year, the media network also organised exclusive screenings of films by TV BRICS partners in Arkhangelsk and Vologda at the Date with Russia festival. For the first time, children's films and animation by BRICS directors were presented at the IX International Children's and Family Film Festival "Zero Plus" in Tyumen.

The Open Documentary Film Festival "ROSSIYA" has been held in Ekaterinburg since 1988 and is among the best film forums in the country. It is the first non-fiction film festival in the history of our country.