St. Petersburg 2003

Abstract

ST. PETERSBURG FESTIVAL OF FESTIVALS For much too long, the St. Petersburg Festival of Festivals has lingered in the shadows of the all-mighty Moscow International Film Festival. This year, however, everything has changed for the better. Since 2003 marks the 300th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg by Peter the Great, the year has been one long celebration of events and festivals on the Neva. According to some reports, the 11th St. Petersburg Festival of Festivals (23-29 June) under director Alexander Mamontov received as much government funding as did the Moscow International Film Festival (21-30 June) under president Nikita Mikhalkov. Still, it's hard to figure out just why, in this year of national celebration, the calendar dates of the two film festivals should unfortunately overlap each other. But this is Russia. The same arm-wrestling for calendar position forced the Sochi International and Open Russian Film Festivals (1-14 June)...