What is "Listapad"? Listapad - is November in Belarusian. And what does November mean for Belarus? - Surely, the International Film Festival Listapad 2009!

The 16th openning of the festival took place on the 14th of November, and the first film to be shown was the new work by Pavel Lungin "The Tsar". The passionate cinema goers will be able to enjoy the diversity of new films from all over the world   throughout the week, see their favourite actors, and (if lucky enough)

watch the master classes by Kshyshtau Zanusi and Leanid Yarmolnik.

The interesting thing about the Listapad 2009 is that much has been changed in the overall structure of the film festival. Thus, Listapad will be accompanied by an extra film program, called "Parallels", which includes those films, which have already been presented at some international film festivals. However, the participants of this program will not compete with Listapad nominees.
Also the 2009 Listapad will include lots of creative master classes and meetings not only in Minsk, but in some other cities of Belarus. This will be a unique opportunity for art students to learn, how and where the masters get their inspiration and transform it into unique works of art.

The 16th International Film Festival, Listapad-2009, will be on till the 21st of November. The festival has become one of the most prestigious international film forums in the CIS countries. The special feature of Listapad is that it mainly embodies the new films, which got various film awards.
The program of Listapad includes three contests: dramatic films (18 films), documentary films (25), and films for youngsters (7).

The festival is organized by the Ministry of Culture of Belarus, the Minsk City Hall, Belarusian Film Makers Association, the National Film Studio Belarusfilm, the National State TV and Radio Company of the Republic of Belarus.
The organizers of the festival hope that the format of Listapad will become closer to the cinema performances in Amsterdam, and Karlovy Vary, and in the future even more countries will be attraced to participate in it.

P.S. If you have already attended the festival, share your ideas and emotions, sending us an e-mail :)