The Golden Unicorn Awards 2021 ceremony took place on December 6th, 2021 at the Royal Theatre Haymarket. The ceremony was the culmination of a week-long film festival for Russian Film Week, a celebration of Russian film always held annually in London.
The Golden Unicorn Awards ceremony was a theatrical performance based on Shakespearean “Tempest”. Created by Oliver Bennet and Vladimir Scherban, founders of the HUNCH Theatre, “The Tempest and the Unicorn” starred actor Danila Kozlovsky, writer Alexander Tsypkin, singer Lina Maxine, and actors Ben Fox, Oliver Bennett and Maxim Korbun. Pianist Stephen Ridley closed the ceremony with a riveting piano performance that had the audience on their feet.
Russian Film Week was founded in 2016 by Filip Perkon (Perkon Productions/3D Line Limited) with a group of volunteers on a non-profit basis. From 2017 the festival has been supported by the Russian Ministry of Culture, the British Council and the BFI. RFW is aimed to promote Russian film to international audiences, stimulate European-Russian film production collaboration and build cultural links between Russia and the UK. Russian Film Weeks screens both Russian and co-produced feature films, shorts, documentary and animated films. Apart from film screenings the programme includes a number of satellite events, such as Casting Bridge Forum, master-classes and workshops by award-winning filmmakers, talks, round table discussions, exhibitions and other business and entertainment events for filmmakers, distributors and audiences from both Russia and Europe.
A celebration party at West End restaurant Rockwell, with caviar and champagne flowing, was the perfect ending to a week of Russian film.
The winners of the Golden Unicorn Awards 2021:
Best Film – Captain Volkonogov Escaped, by N. Merkulova, A. Chupov
Best Screenplay – Captain Volkonogov Escaped, by N. Merkulova, A. Chupov
Best Debut – Next station: Russia, by I. Sosnin
Best Short Film – Promises, by L. Vlad
Best documentary – Far Eastern Golgotha, by Julia Sergina
Best foreign film with a Russian connection: Bloodsuckers, by Julian Radlmaier
Best foreign documentary – Bless you, by T. Chistova (Poland)
Best Emerging Talent – Polina Gukhman (Masha)
Best Actress – Svetlana Khodchenkova (Another Name)
Best Actor – Yuri Borisov (Captain Volkonogov Escaped)
Best Animated Film – Secret Magic Control Agency, by A. Tsitsilin
Best Russian Actor in an International Project (The Casting Bridge Award) – Alexander Kuznetsov
The Golden Unicorn Awards is an annual event reflecting the cross-cultural mission of the Russian Film Week Festival; building a bridge between the English-speaking world and the Russian people. The original unicorn statuettes made of Bohemian crystal glass, containing 24-carat gold leaf, were given to winners in nine nominations.
The Golden Unicorns Awards and the Russian Film Week were organised by Filip Perkon (Perkon Productions Ltd.), Synergy Corporation, supported by Gazprom Marketing & Trading and Blavatnik Family Foundation; opening and Online Partner – Kaspersky.
By Tim Baros