02.06.2022 // This year the international festival "Northern Character: Green Screen" took place for the fifth time. Its motto is "Nature as a source of inspiration". And the main goal is to find new models of human interaction with the surrounding world that could help live in harmony with nature. The forum was Russia's agenda as the Arctic Council's presiding country for 2021-2023.

The Environmental and Social Film Forum lasted from 23 to 29 May. This year's competitors included 28 works by both Russian filmmakers and their international peers from Sweden, Canada, China, France, Argentina and Israel. To make certain that as many northerners as possible could see them, film screenings were arranged not only in Murmansk, but also in Severomorsk, Pechenga, Nikel and Zapolyarny.

The Grand Prix of the festival was awarded to a Russian documentary film in the edutainment genre: Baikal. The Amazing Adventures of Yuma, directed by Anastasia Popova. It tells the story of the Baikal seal Yuma from the very first minutes after her birth to the beginning of her adult life. The audience sees Baikal through the eyes of the protagonist and joins her on a long and dangerous journey to the seal rookeries on the Ushkany Islands, getting acquainted with other inhabitants of the ancient lake along the way.

The Best Documentary film award went to The King of the Mountain, by Russian directors Masha Lind (Kosobokova) and Daria Khrenova. It is dedicated to the musicians from the band Ekologia Mysly (Ecology of Thought) , who are trying to find a way to rid humanity of plastic.

Dead Sea, directed by Nahd Bashir from Israel, became the Best Drama Short. It is based on a true story of an autistic Palestinian trying to cure his paralysed sister with Dead Sea water.

A special diploma for Best Direction was awarded to the Russian-Armenian film The First Word by Artak Serovani-Oganyan. Some other films that earned special prizes included A Short Guide to Raising Seals by director Vladimir Marin and These Are Our Dreams by director Ekaterina Golovnaya.

For the duration of the film festival, an outdoor cinema was opened in the centre of Murmansk. Next to it, there was an Arctic Film Kitchen, where all the spectators could try the best creations of northern chefs. Every guest of the film festival could vote for the best Arctic fast food. Belyash with Crab, presented by the Murmansk company Restaurant Syndicate, won the popular vote by a landslide.