MOSCOW, June 30. /TASS/. More than 33,000 spectators visited the shows of the 39th Moscow International Film Festival that closed on Thursday, the president of the festival, the Russian film director and producer Nikita Mikhalkov told reporters.
He told a news briefing the festival program featured 406 full-length and short-length films from 64 countries this year.
The organizers issued more than 8,000 accreditations - 2,233 accreditations to the press , 5,856 to the guests, and 281 to foreign participants and invitees of the festival.
"The main thing was the atmosphere, of course," Mikhalkov said. "The very opportunity to watch movies is much more important than an opportunity to sort out conflicts."
He said the festival had proceeded strictly as scheduled. "Stability of any kind is a very nice thing," he said.
The Chinese film ‘Crested Ibis’ directed by Liang Qiao won the main prize of the festival, the Golden St George. The director said he hoped to use his victory as an opportunity to call the global audiences’ attention to the problems of ecology.
He said the film had been shot in simple enough a manner, adding that he devoted victory at the Moscow Film Festivasl to his mother.
‘Crested Ibis’ got the Gold St George for ‘cinematographic value and humanism. The decision distinguish it with the prize was taken by a jury with the Finnish director and producer Jorn Johan Donner at the head.
Reporter Vince Kang, the protagonist of the plot returns to his hometown to write a story about a crested ibis, a very rare bird that is China’s national symbol. Media noise around the find makes society start talks about an ecological disaster that has resulted from the country’s speedy industrial development.
‘Opera’, a French-Swiss co-production directed by Jean-Stephane Bron, won in the contest of documentaries. This humorous, inspiring and, at certain moments, cruel film about music and ballet explores the life and passions backstage one of the world’s most prestigious theaters.
‘Ambulance’, a Norwegian film featuring a crew of emergency medics who come to face with Romanian immigrants while attending an emergency case.