WELCOME!
Odessa is a Ukrainian seaport and a beautiful resort with a diverse cultural scene and strong cinematographic tradition. In 1894, a year and a half before the famous Lumiere brothers show on Boulevard des Capucines, Odessa engineer Iosif Timchenko presented a “moving pictures” projector. In 1907 the first film studio in the former Russian Empire was opened in the city, and since then almost 700 films were made there. Sergei Eisenstein, Oleksandr Dovzhenko and Dziga Vertov made Odessa a legendary place for Ukrainian cinema.
RED CARPET AND OFFICIAL CEREMONIES
Glamour, shine, amazing stars and excited public… You can find this all and even more on the OIFF Red Carpet. The Opening and Closing ceremonies take place in the incredible premises of the Odessa Opera, one of the most outstanding sights of its kind in Eastern Europe and the oldest opera house in Ukraine. Built in Viennese Baroque style, it witnessed appearances of the greatest XX century artists – Petr Chaykovsky, Sergei Rakhmaninov, Fedor Shalyapin, Enrico Caruso, Anna Pavlova, Isadora Dunkan… The festival Opening and Closing ceremonies, attracting thousands of odessites, are also broadcast live on one of the central Ukrainian channels. In 2012, TV-versions of OIFF official ceremonies were watched by 3 mln people.
POTEMKIN STAIRS OPEN-AIR
A place, belonging to the world film history, once glorified in Sergei Eisenstein’s Battleship Potemkin, now becomes a great open-air sea-view screening space with the capacity to seat 15 thousands viewers. As one of the best Odessa International Film Festival locations, it demonstrated Battleship Potemkin (1925), Metropolis (1927) and City Lights (1931), accompanied by a symphonic orchestra, in front of swarming audiences. Screenings on the Potemkin Stairs are one of the main OIFF highlights.
CONCEPT
The international competition includes films from all over the world, mostly international or national premieres, for the most demanding and passionate viewers. The film selection is focused on so-called “art mainstream”, or the films possessing a refined artistic quality, yet accessible to the broadest possible audience. For Odessa International Film Festival, viewers are the main focus and, from 2012 and on, the festival jury, since the Grand-Prix is awarded by audience. International Jury awards winners in the Best Film, Best Acting and Best Director categories. Other non-competition sections include retrospectives, tributes, collections of the newest films from different countries and festival hits.
UKRAINIAN FOCUS
Competition includes the newest films from Ukraine and awards the first and only Ukrainian National Award for the Best Ukrainian Film.
FILM INDUSTRY OFFICE
Industrial section is an important dimension of the Odessa International Film Festival. It includes Pitching Competition, Work-in-Progress demonstration, panel discussions and a local Film Market. Eventually, OIFF is becoming one of the main places for Ukrainian film industry, aspiring to cover all the stages of the film process from pitching and production to distribution and audience feedback.
EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS
One of the biggest OIFF projects, Summer Film School, provides learning in process approach. In 2012, over 700 students and film lovers visited film demonstrations, workshops and Q&A sessions with the great stars and film professionals such as Peter Greenaway, Geraldine Chaplin, Todd Solondz, Sergey Loznitsa, Michael Madsen, Andrey Plakhov, Aleksandr Fehling and others. Moreover, every year OIFF implements specific educational programs, such as Film Critics School, Script Workshop, etc.
VENUES
A new Festival Palace, set in 2012 in the premises of Musical Comedy Theatre, has 1260 seats screening hall and hosts Accreditation, Ticket, Guest services and Press Center. The main festival location includes also a big square in front of the Palace with every-day Red Carpet ceremonies, Festival TV screen, food court and socializing space. There are also two screening halls in Festival Center “Rodina” for 180 and 520 seats. Film Industry Office is located at Odessa Film Sudio, and the Film Market is held in a “Multiplex” cinema, located nearby.