The message reads, in part:
“It is gratifying that your traditional meetings continue to grow and occupy a worthy place in the country’s cultural life with every new year. Spectacular and eventful, they invariably attract keen interest from the film-making community and audiences as they are known for their rich and informative programme. And they also carry out a significant and responsible mission by contributing to the education of the younger generation in the spirit of civic consciousness and patriotism and respect for the heroic pages in our history.
I am sure that the current festival, dedicated to the 75th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War, will also be a success and will make the best impressions on the festival’s audiences and participants.”
The Yury Ozerov International Military Film Festival has been held in different Russian cities since 2003. This year it is being hosted by Tula from November 9 through 14, for the first time online due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Yury Ozerov was a Soviet and Russian film director, scriptwriter and educator. Among his most famous works were the film epics Liberation, Stalingrad, and The Battle of Moscow, which are dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.