Chairman of Russia Muftis Council mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin came to Kazan today.

Spiritual leader of Russian Muslims is a permanent President of Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema, which has opened its doors for the ninth time today.

Mufti Ravil Gaynutdin is the founder of this festival, an event of cultural significance in Russia as a whole and among our country's Muslims in particular. Ravil hazrat holds that Islam, greatest Monotheist faith that preaches peace and dialogue between nations and propagates these humanist ideas in prayers and sermons, should use all modern instruments of education, including cinematic art. This perfectly matches the motto of the festival: “Through the culture of dialogue—to the dialogue of cultures”.

From its very foundation, Kazan Cinema Festival has positioned itself as a respectable international contest, and has achieved very positive response over the last ten years.

Later tonight, Chairman of Russia Muftis Council mufti sheikh Ravil Gaynutdin will take part in the solemn opening ceremony of the festival as well as other significant information events.

The official selection list of the IX Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema features ten full-length fiction films and ten documentaries and animation films, and the same number of short features and documentaries.

The list of participant countries of IX Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema includes 27 names: Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Turkey, France, Senegal (first-time participant), Serbia, Germany, Slovenia, Kazakhstan, Egypt, Morocco, Switzerland, Great Britain, UAE, Italy, Saudi Arabia, Austria, Sweden, Spain, Qatar, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Albania, Somali and USA. The president of the jury is film director, director of federal state unitary enterprise “Film Studio “Mosfilm” Karen Shakhnazarov.

Other members of the jury include: movie critic and cultural expert from Czech Republic Vera Langerova, movie expert, critic and journalist, member of the Movie Critics Guild of Turkey Ali Kosa, Iranian film maker, script writer and producer Dariush Mehrjui, film director and script writer, honoured artist of Uzbek SSR (Uzbejistan) Kamara Kamalova, writer, poet and member of the State Council of Republic of Tatarstan Razil Valeev and movie critic and expert, editor-in-chief of Belarusian magazine “Na ekranah” Lyudmila Peregudova.

The opening of IX Kazan International Festival of Muslim Cinema will take place tonight, on September 5, 2013.