The Febiofest film festival has begun, and Kristián has awarded Sencov and Roden
Updates: 04/28/2022 20:51
Released: 28.04.2022, 20:04
Prague – The IFF Prague – Febiofest festival, which started today at the Slavonic House, praised Kristián for the artistic contribution of Ukrainian director Oleh Sencov and actor Karel Roden. Ukrainian Ambassador Yevhen Perebyjnis accepted the award for Sencov. Roden attended in person. The opening ceremony included the premiere of Senc’s film The Rhinoceros. Febiofest also presented the first screening at the premiere of the film Obsolete, in which Roden played the lead role, directed by Robert Sedláček.
Sencov dressed in a military uniform sent a video greeting festival with a gun in his hand. “This is probably the first time in the history of festivals that someone can’t take the prize because they are fighting. We talked to Oleh a few weeks ago and he told me to defend Ukraine and can’t come,” Perebyjnis said. “With his work, he warned the whole world what Russia is. Unfortunately, the warning was not taken seriously, but now the world seems to understand,” he added.
Sencov, the winner of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, has worked on the film Nosoroh for over ten years, with its world premiere at the last Venice Film Festival. Filming was scheduled to begin in 2014, but was interrupted by his imprisonment and sentenced to 20 years in prison by the Russian occupying government. The Crimean native is currently at the events of the Automajdan movement, became an opponent of the Crimean annexation to Russia and was one of the activists arrested in May 2014 by the Russian secret service FSB. He was released from a Russian prison in 2019 thanks to an exchange of prisoners initiated by Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky.
The plot of the film Rhinoceros takes place in the harsh scenery of Ukraine in the 1990s. “Rhinoceros is not a film that primarily deals with crime, murder and shooting. It is a film about a man who went through this difficult period and who now bears the inner burden he is trying to deal with,” Sencov said.
Another film presented today was the afternoon comedy The Duke of Wellington, the last film by director Roger Michell, who is, among other things, the creator of the popular romantic comedy Notting Hill.
Among the guests arriving on the red carpet for the Feboifest opening ceremony were the festival president Fero Fenič, executive and artistic director Marta Švecová Lamperová, Jiřina Bohdalová, Lucie Vondráčková, Daniela Sodomová and others.
The festival in Prague will last until May 4 and will present more than 90 films representing contemporary cinematography. At the end of the program in the metropolis will head to the regions. The main competition will offer seven significant debuts or second films by talented filmmakers who currently score at international festivals. The expert jury will decide on the winner. The spectator jury, this time led by the honorary chairman Michal Suchánek, will elect the winner of the Comedy Competition for the third time. It will have a choice of seven images from around the world. The festival, in cooperation with the Czech branch of Amnesty International, will also appreciate human rights films across all sections.
Due to the Russian-led war in Ukraine, the organizers decided to create a special Ukraine: Central Europe. The new non-competitive program section has two parts. The first to introduce a young generation of Ukrainian filmmakers, the upcoming work is a strongly influenced situation in their country. The second part of the section is focused on film classics. Her title I Find Myself in the Second is a reference to Sergei Parajan, the author of magical film frescoes from the environment of Ukraine. More information about the program can be found at pages Febiofest.