The Sun Siyam Irufushi Maldives luxury resort hosted the Equator International Film Festival

The International Tourist Film Festival (ITFFM) "On the Equator" was first held in the Maldives at the luxurious hotel The Sun Siyam Irufushi Maldives from July 10-12. For 3 days, the jury watched amazing videos and short films from around the world with exciting content on tourism, sports and nature. The best works were presented to the attention of guests at the festival itself. The final and award ceremony took place on July 12, together with a film screening and a grandiose gala dinner.

Along with journalists, the festival was visited by many stars and cultural figures, among them: Yang Zi (actress from China), Lizzy Kandy (TV / radio host, show business actress, beauty and fashion consultant, as well as a great model from the UK), Mina Wattan Ramadhan Rahim (famous blogger and travel expert from the Middle East), Raul Richter (actor, host and singer from Germany), Irina Arkhipova - founder and producer of the Golden Summit film festival, Valentina Paade (actress) with her fiance, Jumail ( Maldivian actor), Aishat Rishmi Ram from (Maldivian actress) and Abdul Fata Abdul Gayoom (Maldives filmmaker). CCTV6, a leading television channel from China, well-known travel journalists from France, Italy, the Middle East and Russia, and, of course, the local media of the island state of Maldives, Sun Media and Hotelier Maldives joined the festival and provided informational support to it.

Winners at ITFFM are:

1. Category "Tourism": "Back in your free time - Holidays in Austria", Johannes Grebert from the Austrian National Tourist Office

2. Category "Roller": "Unicycle Cappadocia", Sergey Gudzlovenko from Kyrgyzstan

3. Category “Pilgrimage”: “Treasure Island”, sent by Anastasia Yangirova from Russia

4. Category "Adventure": "Heraklion - where the story begins" from Indigo View from Greece

5. Category "Environment": "The Vandal Tribe" by Sergey Shutoy from Russia

6. Category "Sports": "Turquoise House" from Dagan Selayar, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey

7. Category "Unique tourist destination": "Color of Christmas in Zagreb", Marco Vrdoliak from Croatia

8. Category "Cognitive": "Dubrovnik and Time" HerveTirmarch, Tourism Department of Dubrovnik in Croatia

9. Category "Ethnographic cinema": "Danube in Serbia", Srdjan Stankovic, Aleksandar Simic, special video from Serbia

10. Category "Clip": "Petersburg Fantasy" from the travel agency of St. Petersburg, Russia

Special awards received:

Animation: "Dr. Dolly" José Manuel García Alvarez, Asociacion Casa de Rusia Catalonia in Spain

Clip: "Path in the Fall" by Vitaliy Nikolayevich Shmatchenko in Russian

Tourism: “Norte region of Portugal - a unique region”, Jose Lemos - CCDR-N / Farol de Idias from Portugal

Tourism: "Polish Riviera" Agnieszka Payak and Georg van der Weyden from Poland

Tourism: "5 Moments" Jasper Aero from Denmark

The main prize was received by the clip "House of Turquoise" presented by Dagan Selayar - Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Turkey.

Among the prizes the winners were awarded: 5 nights in various categories of villas of the Sun Siyam Resorts hotel chain for two adults with full board and a seaplane shuttle.

They also awarded the winner of the contest “Why I Deserve a Free Vacation in the Maldives”, which was Mr. Skero from Montenegro and his video “Let It Not Be Our Fate”. This category was available on social networks, where the video received the largest number of responses. The winner received a 5-night stay at The Sun Siyam Iru Fushi Maldives, an all-inclusive package for two people, including a seaplane transfer and an international flight ticket, which is valued at $ 20,000, completely free.

The event was a worldwide success among spectators, participants and partners. The film festival organizing committee thanks the partners Qatar Airways and Mega Maldives for special offers for tourists during the event, Spa by Thalgo for giving gifts, TMA, which provided domestic flights, to the media that broadcast live and covered the film festival, the tourist film festival the film "Golden Top" and the film studio "FARAOH", which were the main partners and provided more than 100 of the best films to be shown ...

Given the success of the first ever International Tourism Film Festival in the Maldives, The Sun Siyam Irufushi Maldives is already planning to hold the second festival in November 2017 and subsequently make it an annual festival. The festival organizers are confident that the experience gained will help make it even more ambitious and grandiose.

The International Equator Film Festival was a great success in the world of cinema and tourism. The prestigious event is the first in the Maldives and seeks to attract the attention of representatives of different ages, interests and professions, united by a love of art, tourism and sports.