The Window to Europe Festival is the oldest national film festival in Russia, one of the most respected events in the country in the film industry. Every year cultural and art figures, stars of Russian and world cinema gather here, the newest and most relevant domestic films are shown.
The Russian film festival "Window to Europe" is traditionally held in Vyborg in the first half of August. It includes three competitive programs - fiction, documentary and animation, thus offering a comprehensive cross-section of Russian cinema. An important feature of the festival is the audience voting "Vyborg Account". Thanks to him, films in Vyborg are evaluated not only by an authoritative jury and film critics, but also by ordinary viewers. According to the results of open voting, the audience favorite receives a Special Prize - the Golden Boat.
The Window to Europe festival has been held annually since 1993. Its founders are the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Leningrad Region, the Russian-European Film Association (RECA). Among the main tasks of the festival are the popularization and promotion of Russian cinematography, the assertion of the influence of Russian cinema in Europe and the world, the search and discovery of new talented names that will determine the future of Russian cinema.
The name of the festival "Window to Europe" is inspired by the lines of A. S. Pushkin. The great Russian poet sang in the poem “The Bronze Horseman” (1833) the deeds of Peter I, who founded the city of St. Petersburg and annexed Vyborg to the Russian Empire: “The city will be founded here in spite of the arrogant neighbor. Here we are destined by nature to cut a window into Europe.”
The origins of the festival were the great Soviet and Russian filmmakers, who became its "founding fathers". Marlen Khutsiev is one of the recognized masters of Soviet cinema, the author of such masterpieces and popular favorites as Ilyich's Outpost, Spring on Zarechnaya Street, and July Rain. Savva Kulish - People's Artist of the Russian Federation, director of the films Dead Season, Rise, Tragedy in Rock Style. Mikael Tariverdiev is a composer whose music has become a symbol of Soviet cinema for everyone who watched The Irony of Fate and Seventeen Moments of Spring. Stanislav Rostotsky is an outstanding director, the creator of such classic folk masterpieces as "It was in Penkovo", "We'll live until Monday", "... And the dawns here are quiet." In difficult times for the film industry, it was these people who realized that Russia needed its own national film festival and created it.
Vyborg, where the Window to Europe takes place, is one of the most beautiful cities in the Leningrad Region. Founded in 1293, Vyborg attracts tourists all year round. Its iconic sights: the medieval Vyborg Castle, the Monrepos Museum-Reserve, located on the shores of the Vyborg Bay, the Clock Tower of the Old Cathedral, which survived the cathedral itself. A separate advantage is the proximity of Vyborg to Moscow (night by train) and St. Petersburg (two to three hours by car).
