25th International Film Festival opens in Moscow

The 25th Moscow International Film Festival starts on Friday at the capital's Pushkinsky cinema. The opening ceremony will feature a screening of Russian director Alexei Uchitel's competition film The Stroll.

According to him, this film is dedicated to 20-year-olds, who were the first people to grow up in the free Russia following the demise of the USSR.

In all, 19 pictures are set to take part in the competition programme, including three Russian ones. Apart from The Stroll, they are Koktebel directed by Boris Khlebnikov and Alexei Poporgrebsky and Irina Yevteyeva's Petersburg.

A Colombian film, Malamor, is taking part in the Moscow festival for the first time, as is a picture from Macedonia, Warming Up Yesterday's Lunch.

A prestigious international jury, chaired by Russian director Sergei Bodrov, will decide the results of the competition.

Apart from the competition programme, there will also be a panorama of world cinema, gala premieres and the traditional festival Big Hopes programme, as well as contemporary German cinema.

There will also be a film retrospective featuring the participation of cinema star Gina Lollobrigida. On this occasion, she will not only be appearing as an actress, but also as a sculptor. An exhibition of her works will be held in the capital's prestigious Pushkin Fine Arts Museum.