The Andrei Tarkovsky International Film Festival "Mirror" was established in 2007 in honor of the 75th anniversary of the great film director. The festival traditionally shows art-house films by directors that are associated with the work of A. A. Tarkovsky artistically and spiritually.
The Mirror is the title of a confessional film by the outstanding Russian director Andrei Tarkovsky. The film festival of the same name, dedicated to his memory, was established with the participation of the Department of Culture and Creative Heritage of the Ivanovo Region. Film screening takes place in the Russian outback (in the cities of Ivanovo and Ples). Over 25,000 people attend this event annually. The organizers joke that there are fewer residents in Plyos than the number of guests going to the cinema.
The organizing committee of the film festival includes its inspirers: the governor of the Ivanovo region Mikhail Men and his sister A. A. Tarkovsky - film critic and writer Marina Tarkovskaya. In 2010, the famous director Pavel Lungin became the President of the Film Forum.
The format of the festival is unusual. It demonstrates art-house or author's (non-commercial and low-budget) films. These films tend to be innovative in form and film language. They are not widely released, and for many viewers the only opportunity to see them is "The Mirror".
Within the framework of the film forum, you can watch art, animation and student works. The festival program includes special screenings, retrospectives, master classes, creative meetings with famous filmmakers and, of course, an international feature film competition.
For several days in Plyos, ordinary life is suspended and a real cinematic boom begins. On the old streets with wooden merchant houses, modern screens are being installed on which festival films are shown. In the evenings, the lights are turned off, and screens remain the only city lighting (as in the era of silent films).
The main goal of the festival is to acquaint viewers with auteur cinema. The organizing committee selects films by young directors with minimal pre-festival screenings. One of the main conditions is that the paintings must correspond to the creative heritage of Andrei Tarkovsky, be connected with him artistically and spiritually.
The choice of the jury members is not accidental either. At the VI Film Festival in 2012, the judges included French actress Carole Bouquet, who calls A. Tarkovsky's "Sacrifice" her favorite film, and Andrei Zvyagintsev, who managed to extend the "context of Tarkovsky" with his films in the 21st century. The guest of honor of the festival was Alexander Sokurov, who received a special prize at the festival for his contribution to world cinema.
