Kolkata on Russian film fest jury panel

KOLKATA: Spirit of Fire, Russia's biggest debut film festival, was held in 2022. The Russia-Ukraine war broke out last year and there was uncertainty over whether a physical edition of the festival would happen this year. Despite the war entering its 362nd day on Monday, life has not stopped in Russia's film corridors. Palme d'Or winner Serbian master Emir Kusturica was finally roped in as the president of this year's edition of the festival that will be held between March 3 and 6.Kolkata's very own Bauddhayan Mukherji has been invited in the jury at this year's in-person festival at Khanty-Mansiysk, Siberia.
Spirit of Fire was planned in the winter of 2002 by director Sergei Solovyov. The first edition of the festival was held from January 26 to February 2, 2003. The idea was not only to host an annual public review of almost all the debut works in Russia, but also check out the existence of these works in the context of the global debut cinema. Since then, the festival has happened year after year. The only break was during 2021 due to the pandemic.
Last December, the vice-consul of the Russian House in Mumbai reached out to Mukherji. "I was invited as a speaker to the North South Roundtable. When they introduced me, they did mention about inviting me as a jury to Spirit of Fire. That came as a big surprise and a pleasant one indeed," he said.
This edition of the festival will present films by directors from Russia and 16 other countries. "We tried to create conditions in order to attract the interest of the greatest possible number of film industry specialists to our site. For the first time, the festival is launching The Guest Country of the Film Festival project. This time it is India." Talking about the jury duty, Mukherji said, "Art unites. Film festivals foster community feeling, help reverse polarization and break down prejudices." Kusturica is one of the most-distinguished European filmmakers since the mid-1980s. "He is an auteur I look up to. He has competed at the Cannes Film Festival on five occasions and won the Palme d'Or twice (for 'When Father was Away on Business' and 'Underground'), as well as the best director prize for 'Time of the Gypsies'. I feel privileged to have got this invitation to his festival. The icing on the cake is to have the legendary Pavel Lungin as the chairman of the jury. I am so looking forward to our deliberations," he added.
Mukherji is going on March 1. The first stop is Moscow before he reaches Khanty-Mansiysk. "I guess it is summer there. Hence a 'pleasant minus 17 on most days!" he said.