The jubilee film festival «Magnificat» was held in Glubokoye
Over 10 years, documentary filmmakers from several dozen countries worldwide have participated in the Christian Film and Television Festival "Magnificat". This year, they spent one day in the Belarusian capital and four days in the Glubokoye district. Foreign guests are interested in the village of Mosar, which was named a "sobriety zone" five years ago, and the agro-town of Udelo, where a statue of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, the heavenly patron of journalists, writers, and documentary filmmakers, is erected near the church. It was here, 10 years ago, that the "Magnificat" project was launched. Since then, festival participants and villagers traditionally gather near the church to discuss the significance of spiritual cinema and take a commemorative photo.
There are no unified criteria characteristic of Christian cinema. Some believe that the leitmotif of films should be faith, Christian ethics based on God's commandments, and aesthetics. Others argue that cinema is inherently Christian if it does not incite violence or glorify human vices. According to Yuri Gorulev, the permanent chairman of the film festival, the quality of the films and television programs being created is steadily increasing, and the depth of the authors' observations is becoming more evident.
The main award of the anniversary film festival – a bronze statuette of the Mother of God, created in the image of the miraculous icon of the Mother of God of Budslau – was received this year by the touching film "The Daughter of Pripyat" by Belarusian director Igor Byshenev, which tells the story of an elderly woman who faced many hardships.
The film by Polish screenwriter and director Krzysztof Żurowski "Papa's Tango", which tells the story of Argentinian Jorge Mario Bergoglio, elected Pope of Rome, has been recognized as the best documentary film. The work of young director Anastasia Miroshnichenko, a native of Glubokoye, "A Wound in the Heart. Mykhail Kleofas Oginski" was named the best television program.
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"Stalingrad Madonna" by Russian screenwriter and director Nik Goryachkin was awarded a diploma and a jury prize for a new perspective on the theme of war and the embodiment of the idea of reconciliation and forgiveness, while the film by French documentarian Vladimir Kozlov "Nicholas the Sinner" was awarded for revealing the image of one of the most talented masters who created frescoes in the 20th century.In addition to the main awards, special prizes were also presented. For example, the main prize of the Glubokoye District Executive Committee went to the film by Polish director and screenwriter Jerzy Kalina
"The Sower" about the villager Dorofey Fienik, who leads a church choir, is the editor of an ethnographic journal, and the founder of a village museum and an authentic folklore ensemble. Glubokoye residents also presented special prizes named after famous fellow countrymen: Belarusian-Polish writer, screenwriter, film director Tadeusz Dołęga-Mostowicz, the "father of Belarusian theater" Ignacy Bujnicki, archaeologist, painter, and sculptor Jazep Drozdowicz.The festival featured a screening of 12 children's animated films created by filmmakers from Belarus, Spain, Russia, Poland, Azerbaijan, and India. According to the young jury members, the animated film by Spaniard Grigory Mura,
"Who Lasts Longer" was the most interesting, vibrant, and beautiful.In the center of the village of Ives, Gluboksky District, a chestnut alley of the international festival proudly stands, symbolizing the presence of each participating country in the Christian film forum within a joint dialogue of harmony and understanding between different cultures and denominations. This year, two more saplings joined the existing trees – for the first time at
"Magnificat" documentary filmmakers from Azerbaijan and Macedonia arrived.Diana Bernikovich,