Veliky Novgorod, Russia

September 12 – 15, 2012

The Third International
Tourism Film Festival

• About the Festival
• Watch Films
• How to participate
• Academy
• Jury Board
• Event history

Event history

The First in Russia International Cultural and Tourism Film Festival “Kitovras - 2010” has just successfully finished. Organized by the Municipal Autnomous Institution “Tourism Development Centre “Red Izba”, it was held in Veliky Novgorod the Birthplace of Russia.

The International Festival was held under the auspices of the International Committee of Tourism Film CIFFT (Comité International des Festivals du Film Touristique) (Vienna, Austria) and patronized by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation (headed by A. Avdeev), the Russian Cultural Foundation (headed by N. Mikhalkov) and the North –West Department of the Russian Union of Travel Industry (headed by S. Korneeva).

The Festival Expert Panel included KR Alexander V. Kammel, the Director of CIFFT (Viena, Austria); Sandra Inkena, the General Director of International Tourism Film Festival “Tourfilm Riga” (Riga, Latvia), Ewa Kotus, the General Director of the International Tour Film Festival “Film, Art & Tourism Festival” (Plotsk, Poland).

13 states worldwide took part in the Festival: Austria, Russia, Germany, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Estonia, Switzerland, Hungary, Denmark, and India. 142 films applied for the 6 nominations.

The contestants were so diverse that only experts could judge them. They were Alexander V. Kammel, the Director for CIFFT (Viena, Austria); Aleksander Eliseev, the Commercial Director for the Documentary television channel Russian Travel Guide (Moscow, Russia); Yuri Pesyakov, the Film Director (Sankt-Petersburg, Russia); Alla Osipova, the Film Director (Veliky Novgorod, Russia); Valery Fridman, the General Director for the ‘Mir’ Travel Company (Sankt-Petersburg, Russia); Inna Stolbova, the General Director for the STIF Travel Agency, (Veliky Novgorod, Russia).

On September 12, 17 – 18, 2010 there was public film screening of the Festival contestants organized in four venues in Veliky Novgorod: Yaroslav’s Courtyard, two local cinemas (‘Russia’ and ‘Novgorod’), the ‘Acron’ Centre of Culture.

On September 17 at 6.30pm the ceremonial awarding was held in the Centre of Culture ‘Acron’, and the winners of the First International Cultural and Tourism Film Festival ‘Kitovras - 2010’ were announced and awarded.

The film ‘Styria - The Green Heart of Austria’ (Andreas Meschuh, Art Media Film- & TV Produktion, Austria, 2009) became the Grand Prix winner of the Festival and the winner in the nomination ‘Cultural Tourism’.

The film ‘Ergaki’ about the unique Ergaki Natural Park was acknowledged as the best ‘Active Tourism’ film. It was nominated by the Ministry on Sport, Tourism and the Youth Affair of the Krasnoyarsk Region, Russia, 2009.

‘Transfiguration’ - the second part of the film ‘Karelia the Known and Unknown’ - won in the nomination ‘Religious Tourism’. It was produced by Lukomorie LLC, Petrozavodsk, Russia, 2009. The film by the film director Olga Lukina tells about the religious centres of the Russia’s North, located in the world-known islands Kizhi, Valaam, and Solovki.

 The film ‘The Spirit’ (Hungary, 2008) was selected as the best film in the nomination ‘Health and Ecotourism’. In the work the film director Laszlo Krisko tried to show the balance between water, earth, fire, air and spirit.

The film ‘Poland: The new Dimensions on Business’ by Peotr Ovcharovsky (Warsaw, Poland, 2009) became a winner in the nomination ‘MICE’. It showed Poland’s communications with the rest of the world, showing the great potential of the young Polish economy.

The film ‘Viljandi - European Destinations of Excellence’ was acknowledged as the best one in the nomination ‘Following the Routes of the Medieval Hansa’. It was provided by the Department on Tourism and Public Relations of the Administration of Viljandi, Estonia, 2008.

Apart from those awards a People’s Choice Award was given to ‘Worlds of Kazan’ (by Rupert Wainwright, the USA; the Ministry on Youth Affair, Sport and Tourism of the Tatarstan Republic, Russia, 2008). This award was decided by Internet voting on the trilingual web-site http://www.visitnovgorod.ru/tourfilm/ (Russian, English and German).

The Festival partner Air Baltic company gave a special award – One-International-Flight Certificate – was given to a Novgorod film maker Yuri Teplyakov for creating ‘Sequence’ reel (Veliky Novgorod, Russia, 20010). Made just to take part in the Festival ‘Kitovras - 2010’, the three-minute film by Art Media Production Co. turned out to be an adequate final shot of the Festival.

The organizer of the International Festival ‘Red Izba’ (Tourism Development Centre, MAI) also gave another award. The Red Prize went to the film ‘Christmas Miracle in Riga’ (directed by Ivo Kalpenieks, Latvia, 2009), the film on Christmas miracle that for the last 500 years has resided in Riga. The film has been presented by the Riga Tourism Coordination and Information Centre.

Festival Information Partners: 

• Russian International News Agency (RIA Novosti), http://rian.ru
• Tourism Portal http://www.100dorog.ru/
• Regional Internet Portal «Novgorod.ru», www.novgorod.ru
• Novgorod Regional TV
• TV Channel "Russian Travel Guide"
• Tourist Agency "STIF"