The curtain has risen on the Moscow International Film Festival.

Acclaimed Polish director Andrij Zulawski is a late replacement to preside over the jury after Austrian Michael Haneke withdrew.

Seventeen films will be hoping to carry off the Golden St. George for best film. Silver St. Georges will be awarded for Best Director, Actor and Actress. Despite rapid growth in the Russian film industry, Alexei Muradov’s ‘The Worm’ is the only local film to make the shortlist.

Chinese director Chen Kaige was presented with a lifetime achievement award. His film ‘Farewell My Concubine’ was the first Chinese film to win a Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1993. His big-budget fantasy epic The Promise got proceedings under way on Friday.

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