The Window to Europe film festival in Vyborg wrapped up with its main prize awarded and a slate of new film projects unveiled, even as actress Lyubov Aksenova was quietly filming a new series alongside the event. This year's closing ceremony was hosted for the first time by two directors, Darya Lebedeva and festival president Sergei Ursulyak.
The festival's top honour went to Anton Nefedov's chamber drama "Za Nashim Domom Sad" (Behind Our House There's a Garden), starring Nadezhda Mikhalkova. The film also received a 500,000-ruble prize from the Guild of Producers of Russia. Jury chairman Pavel Lungin said the film combined modern cinematic techniques with the traditions of Russian cinema.
Aksenova's surprise appearance
While the festival ran, a separate production, "Podslushano v Vyborge" (Overheard in Vyborg) by Pyotr Todorovsky and Ivan Baranov, was filming in the town. The series is a spin-off of "Podslushano v Rybinske" (Overheard in Rybinsk).
Aksenova and actor Adam Nekhay appeared on set, taking festival attendees by surprise. Aksenova plays Vika, a professional hitwoman who arrives in Vyborg to carry out a job, only for her plans to change after she meets a local postman who accidentally witnesses a crime.
Aksenova said she became interested in the project after encountering "Overheard in Rybinsk" at the festival two years earlier. She said her character combines toughness, fearlessness and irony with romantic feelings that Vika herself does not immediately recognise in herself.
New handprints on the Alley of Fame
The festival also added to Vyborg's Alley of Actors' Fame, with actor Sergei Bezrukov and director Pavel Lungin leaving handprints for new memorial plaques. Bezrukov attended with his wife, Anna Matison, to present their out-of-competition project "Ne po-detski."
According to the outlet 7Dney, the new plaques will be installed opposite the Vyborg Palace cinema in 2027, ahead of the 35th edition of the Window to Europe festival.
