The winner of the Baikal International Film Festival "People and Environment" was the animated film "Lacrifagia"

The Grand Prix of the 24th Baikal International Film Festival "People and Environment" named after V. G. Rasputin - 500 thousand rubles – was awarded to the film "Lacrifagia", directed by Elizaveta Klimaeva from Russia. This elegant metaphor about the life of a moth that feeds on animal tears is conveyed by animation and reflects the delicate natural balance between predator and prey. The winners in four nominations and the winners of special prizes were announced during the closing ceremony of the film forum. The awards were presented by the members of the jury, which was headed by Svetolic Micha Zaic, a sound engineer, director of editing and sound designer from Serbia.

- The Baikal Film Festival "People and Environment" is an important platform for the exchange of experience between cinematographers, environmentalists, public figures and all those who are not indifferent to the future of our planet. He raises important issues of ecology, nature conservation and human responsibility in these matters. I thank the organizers of the festival and its participants for hosting such an important film project. This festival does not just show movies, but changes the world for the better," said Olesya Polunina, Minister of Culture of the Irkutsk Region.

The prize for the best documentary film named after director Mikhail Romm was awarded to two films with the same number of points. This is the "Choice" directed by Alexander Kalashnikov and Mikhail Tarkovsky and the "Winter Road" by the director Yuri Dorokhin from Irkutsk

In the nomination "Best Popular Science Film", the prize named after researcher Ivan Chersky was awarded to documentary filmmakers from Russia Vladislav Grishin and Irina Shapman for the film "My Bears. Himalayans".

The best feature film was the work of Russian director Alexei Romanov "Legends of Eternal Snow". He was awarded the prize named after director Leonid Gaidai.

The prize for the best full-dome film named after Don Othello, the founder of Irkutsk's oldest cinema, was awarded to a team of filmmakers from Australia, Ruwe Collective, for their work "Firmament above the Clouds: a Look from the depths of time at the epic history of Australia."

The Baikal Prize for the severity of the environmental problem was awarded to the animated film "Once upon a Time there was a Mountain" directed by Natalia Abramova from Russia.

Special prizes were awarded to films: "Penosar", directed by Hossein Fattahi (Iran); "Two in one Life, not counting the Dog" directed by Andrey Zaitsev (Russia); "Tears of the Dragon" directed by Tatiana Miroshnik (Russia); "Save the Falcon. Birds of the Arctic", directed by Evgeny Bezborodov (Russia); "The Ivanovo Affair", directed by Ivan Tverdovsky (Russia).

240 applications from 39 countries were submitted to the festival's organizing committee, the Irkutsk Regional Film Fund. Of these, the commission selected 34 films for the competition program – eight documentaries, 11 animated films, and five popular science, fiction, and full-dome films each. These are the works of directors from Russia, Brazil, Iran, the USA, South Korea, Taiwan, Colombia, Hungary, Canada and other countries. The out-of-competition program included seven films. Screenings for the jury and the audience took place at the venues of the Cinema House, the Barguzin and New Cinema cinemas, in Irkutsk planetariums and museums.

Within the framework of the film forum, the Baikal pitching of film projects was held – a presentation of film ideas for obtaining financing for filming. The projects "Crystal in a transparent frame" and "Metal" by Alexey Sukhachev from Vladivostok won in the Documentary and Feature Film categories. For the implementation of both projects, the author received 450 thousand rubles (part in cash, part in a certificate for the use of film equipment). Anastasia Kokorina's "Sabbath" (Irkutsk, Russia) was also awarded in the Documentary Film category. Her award was 150,000 rubles. Innokenty Khandy from Yakutsk received a special prize from the Irkutsk GaydeiCenter for the comedy project "On the Ring".

In addition, a series of master classes, creative meetings and a round table on the topic were held for the participants of the Man and Nature Film Festival.: "Involving viewers in watching and discussing environmental films." It was attended by experts in the field of the film industry and media. They discussed how to interest the audience, effective formats for discussing films after watching them, and the role of cinema in shaping environmental awareness.

The Baikal International Film Festival "Man and Nature" named after V.G. Rasputin was held from September 22 to 30 with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Irkutsk Region, and the Ministry of Culture of the Angara Region. It is organized by the Irkutsk Regional Film Fund, LLC Irkutskkino, ANO Kinoforum.

In the picture: awarding prizes in the Documentary Film category to the authors of the films "Choice" and "Winter Road"