“No wonder McMurdo has been chosen as the venue of the film festival this year. It’s right here where German director Werner Herzog shot his famous movie “Encounters at the End of the World”, that was nominated for an Oscar,” Stefanova told Ria Novosti News Agency.

By tradition, the Winter International Film Festival of Antarctica screens two types of movies.

McMurdo, Antarctica

The so-called “Open Category” features amateur productions of any genre and any topic. The only condition is they have a time limit – 5 minutes maximum.

The second part of the festival features films made in just 48 hours and required to include some specific features, like lines of dialogue, sound or characters.

On August the 3rd, all the participants are expected to upload their cinematic creations on the Internet for members of other polar stations, as well as the organizers of the festival, to watch them.

Olga Stefanova explained the time limit is mainly due to the low speed of the Internet flow in the neighborhood.

“The whole McMurdo community is expected to watch the films before the jury passes its verdict. In fact, it can pick several winners, because all of the competitors are equally in love with Antarctica,” Srefanova told Ria Novosti.

13 stations are taking part in this year’s International Film Festival of Antarctica. Apart from Russia’s Bellingshausen Station, there are three American and three British stations as well as polar expeditions from Japan, India, New Zealand, Argentina, Australia, Norway and Germany.