Blog: Film festivals

The Pacific Meridian is the annual International Film Festival of Asian Pacific countries, established in 2003. The festival is held annually in early autumn in Vladivostok, on the shores of the Sea of ​​Japan.

The festival in Vladivostok

Vladivostok has a very unusual history: in the tsarist times it was an open port and the city-fortress, in the Soviet times it had the status of the military base and closed city, and today it is on the way to becoming a free port again.
Vladivostok is the city that is sure to become a hub, connecting Europe and Asia, a place where every year the international cinematic community meets to share its best films.

The Pacific Meridian is a significant cultural event in the Far East, a great excuse to explore the Pacific Russia. Cinema is the most powerful and accessible art form, through which the festival introduces the audiences to contemporary culture.

The festival supports the positive development of relations of local, national and Asian filmmakers. The festival always presents only the best and unique films. The Pacific Meridian venues are where new projects emerge, filmmaking professionals meet the audiences, and young directors and actors find recognition.

For 18 years of its work the film festival has shown about 2,500 movies, seen by more than a million spectators. Every year the festival brings together film professionals (actors, directors, producers and film critics) from around the world, attracting audiences from other Russian regions and enables young people to gain practical experience by participating in organizing the festival.

Throughout each year, the festival team works on organizing this international cultural event, and the preparation is carried out from the end of the current festival, and till the beginning of the next. By the time of the festival opening more than 100 people, including volunteers, participate in the work of different venues of the film forum.

The Pacific Meridian Mission

We provide access to the most powerful films of our time and develop the culture of shared viewing, making the audience connected with the development of the art of cinema of the Pacific Rim countries. With the help of the art of cinema, we are transforming the world around us, making the local community more informed and involved in the film festival movement.

In accordance with this mission the objectives of the festival team are the following:

1. To maintain the organization of the festival at the highest level, meeting the world standards in accordance with the recommendations of the FIAPF;
2. To promote the audiences’ understanding of the world culture through selecting and presenting the best examples of the art of cinema;
3. To ensure accessibility to the audience films and educational programs, involvement and informational awareness of the regional community;

The Pacific Meridian is the only Russian film festival, which focuses on the cinema of the APR countries. Actively participating in the development of cultural exchange, the festival brings together more than 60 countries in Southeast Asia, North and South America and the Pacific Rim. Every year the film festival opens and shows the audiences modern films.

The Pacific Meridian IFF remains open, accessible and friendly for a wide and diverse audience. The slogan of the festival is “Films for all, films for every one”.

The Festival’s Juries

Since 2003, the international jury of the festival consists of the best representatives of the professional community of Russian and international filmmakers. The international jury determines the winners and awards prizes in the following nominations: Best Feature, Best Short Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and The Special Jury Award.

Since 2011, the Pacific Meridian IFF features NETPAC (Association for Promotion of Asian Cinema) Jury. NETPAC is an international organization that brings together 30 member countries, established with the support of UNESCO in 1990. This Pan Asian cinema and cultural organization brings together film critics, filmmakers, organizers and curators of film festivals, film distributors and teachers. NETPAC is considered a leading authority on Asian cinema; it participates in selecting films for Asian cinema programs of several international film festivals, introduces filmmakers from Asia to the world audience, publishes books, and organizes seminars and conferences. It has also established a special NETPAC Award, Best Asian Film, which is given at 44 film festivals around the world.

Since 2013, the festival features the international FIPRESCI Jury. FIPRESCI, the International Federation of Film Critics, established 90 years ago, brings together film critics and film experts around the globe. The main goal of the organization is to support cinema as an art and as a bright and independent way of expressing vision of the world. The award of this organization is of great importance in the cinematic world.

The Festival’s Program

During each festival about 200 films are screened in its venues. Films of all genres, length and formats find their place in its various programs.
COMPETITION program includes 8 full-length and 8 short films produced in the Asia-Pacific region this year. Each year, the number of incoming applications is increasing, but only 20 films are selected for the competition.

Non- competition programs present new world and Russian cinema. PANORAMA program is devoted to the most prominent film events in Russia and abroad. IN FOCUS program presents masterpieces from one of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region, or of one genre. Over the years the festival has acquainted its audience with the films from Australia, Laos, North Korea, Russia, China and South Korea, with spy thrillers and horror films. Great attention is paid to retrospectives of prominent filmmakers.

The festival also embraces different cultural and business events: round tables, discussions on specific films, lectures, workshops, art exhibitions, Cinetour and meet-the audience sessions.