Canadian, Russian businessmen meet at energy forum.

MONTREAL, September 12 (Itar-Tass) - A Canadian-Russian forum on
investment and innovative cooperation in the fuel and energy complex ended
on Saturday. It was attended by representatives of leading Canadian
companies such as SNC-Lavalin Engineering and Construction firm, the
CAMECO uranium producer and the Rabaska energy partnership.
"Russia and Canada have much in common. They pursue a policy of close
cooperation in the energy sphere," Russia's Deputy Energy Minister
Stanislav Svetlitsky told the forum.
"Our countries are the biggest energy producers. They play a vital
role in the provision of energy security. Bilateral cooperation covers
various spheres such as nuclear energy, engineering, operation of electric
power stations, the development of modern network infrastructure and the
extraction of oil on the shelf," Svetlitksy went on to say.
"These areas are in great demand and are holding out the most
successful prospects for our companies. Particularly broad
opportunities open up in the development of renewable sources of energy
and the study of the impacts of the energy industry on environment. Both
sides are showing interest for this cooperation," Svetlitsky emphasized.
For his part, the vice-president of the Canadian uranium-producing
company CAMECO, Ken Seitz, said that Russia was one of the world's biggest
suppliers of light-water reactors and that it could be an area for
possible cooperation.
The president of the Rabaska Company expressed the hope that dynamics
of prices in the North American gas market will open a possibility of
importing liquefied natural gas from Russia for a terminal in Quebec City.
In the meantime, about 4,000 delegates, including 70 heads of energy
ministries from various countries, will take part in the 21st World Energy
Congress in Montreal.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, Canada's International Trade
Minister Peter Van Loan as well as Helen Peloss, the director-general of
the International Agency for Renewable Source of Energy (IRENA), and the
heads of the world's leading energy companies will be present as guests.
The agenda of the forum that will last from September 12 to 16
includes several items: how to meet the demand in fuel and energy, how to
find the most effective combination of various types of fuel and energy in
the world energy market with an aim to secure long-term stability,
prospects of using alternative sources of energy and the financing of
energy projects.
A source at the organizing committee said that the current forum was
being held at a time when energy issues had advanced to the forefront in
the light of decisions of the G-8 and G-20 summits in June to stimulate
the world economy in the post-crisis period.
The Congress is expected to pass a Montreal declaration on energy
problems.

.Russian film 'Silent Souls' to run at film festival in Toronto.

VENICE, September 12 (Itar-Tass) - Russian film "Silent Souls" whose
camera work received an Osella award at the 67th Venice International Film
Festival will run in the main contest of the International Film Festival
in Toronto on September 16, producer Igor Mishin told Itar-Tass.
The first night of "Silent Souls" will simultaneously be held in
Russia and France on October 28. The film's director Alexei Fedorchenko
has already been invited to bring his film to cinema shows in New York,
Abu Dhabi, Warsaw, Hamburg, Reykjavik and London.
Igor Mishin said that "Silent Souls" was a project 'for the soul.' He
had fully financed it knowing that he would unlikely to get his money
back. However, after getting to the Venice festival, the film received
good distribution proposals.
"Silent Souls" or "Ovsyanki" in the Russian version tells the story of
two men from a remote Russian province who are on their way to the
cemetery to bury a woman named Tanya whom they both loved. They are going
to bury her according to the Ugro-Finnic tradition of the Russian north.
Fedorchenko's screen version of a novel by Denis Osokin, which was
among the favorites to win the prestigious Venice Golden Lion, received
the film critics' prize on Saturday. Mikhail Krichman, the film's
cameraman, was awarded Venice's "Ozella" prize for the best film
photography.
Mikhail Krichman worked together with Andrei Zvyagintsev whose film
"The Return" won the Venice Golden Lion Award back in 2003.
Alexei Fedorchenko won his first award at the Venice film festival in
2005 for his film "The First on the Moon" in the Horizons category.
Many in Venice compared Fedorchenko's "Silent Souls" to films by
Andrei Tarkovsky but the director himself says his work shouldn't be
labelled as an example of "new Russian cinema>.


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