Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On 24 November, at the award ceremony for the winners of the XXIX Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad”, the winner of the special prize of the CIS Executive Committee “Cinema without Borders” was determined. It was awarded to two films at once - the Turkmen film “Tree of Destiny” and the Uzbek film “Evolution”. This was reported by the press service of the CIS Executive Committee.

Special prizes for the development of cultural cooperation and strengthening friendship between peoples were presented by the First Deputy Secretary General of the CIS Leonid Anfimov.

Speaking at the official closing ceremony of the Listapad Film Festival, Leonid Anfimov noted that the films presented at this year’s film festival fully reflect its overall theme - “Creating the Future.”

“The CIS Executive Committee was faced with the difficult task of choosing a nominee from the films presented by the Commonwealth countries. And we made an unconventional decision - to celebrate two film works,” said the First Deputy Secretary General of the CIS.

According to him, the film “The Tree of Destiny” is a story about love, fidelity, hope and our common history. The film “Evolution” reminds the viewer that, regardless of life’s circumstances and trials, it is important to preserve humanism, mercy, a sense of friendship, love for loved ones and one’s native land.

“Both films are about moral values that are significant for any person, no matter what country he lives in. In our opinion, each of these films is deservedly awarded the “Cinema Without Borders” prize,” emphasized Leonid Anfimov.

The XXIX Minsk International Film Festival “Listapad” was held from 17 to 24 November not only in the capital, but also in other cities of Belarus.

This year, a record number of applications were submitted to the festival - 2087 from 107 countries, including Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Applications were accepted in five categories: the film competition “Cinema of the Young”, the competition of animated films, competitions of feature and non-fiction films and the competition of films for children and youth audiences “Listapadzik”.

As part of the non-competition program, days of Kazakh, Russian, Pakistani and Syrian cinema were held.