Chechnya’s first international film festival has been held in Grozny. Productions from more than 20 countries competed for the Noah’s Ark award. The name of the festival symbolises the cultural and spiritual uplift in the Russian North Caucasian republic.

Directors and celebrities from all over the world participated in the festival.

The top award went to Amor Hakkar's “The Yellow House,” an Algerian-French co-production.

Chechen Minister of Culture, Dikalu Muzakaev said, “The name of the festival corresponds to its content and goals”.

“Noah was a prophet of three religions – Judaism, Christianity and Islam – and the festival’s goal is to promote tolerance towards different religions among the international population of Chechnya,” he said.

During the anti-terror campaign 80 per cent of the cultural and religious monuments were destroyed. The process of restoration started with Mosques.

The next step of the republic’s renaissance is museums reconstruction. The national Chechen museum is the only functioning at the moment. Over 100.000 items were lost during the anti-terror campaign.

Today the most popular forms of art in Chechnya are folklore and national dance.

“On the folklore platform we’re planning to restore classical forms of art. We are beginning with the establishment of the Symphonic Orchestra of the Chechen republic. The next step is a musical theatre for the orchestra,” Dikalu Muzakaev.

The year 2008 is officially the year of culture in Chechnya. And the first international film festival is just a modest start of the cultural renaissance in the republic.