Reflections of the Universe, the second edition of the Russian Fulldome Festival held in Yaroslav has just ended.

The event lasted for four days, during which the Jury and the public attended the screenings of more than 50 films from a variety of international producers.

Each film was judged depending on five criteria: quality of the educational content, quality of the script, artistic presentation, original approach. Each of these criteria could range from 1 to 5 points, and scores were then aggregated for each of the films.

The Jury was formed by Elena Tereshkova (Vice-President of Valentina Tereshkova Charitable Foundation), Thomas Kraupe (Planetarium Hamburg Director and IPS President), Sergei Yazev (Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, Professor of Irkutsk State University and Director of ISU Obseravtory), Dmitry Belonozhko (Doctor of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Professor of Yaroslavl State University), Alexander Serber (Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and Director of Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium) and Mikhail Gavrilov (Candidate of Physical and Mathematical Sciences and a Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences).

The Winners of the Festival are:

Feature Films

• First prize: Polaris, the Space Submarine and the Mystery of the Polar Night, produced by the Planetarium de Saint Etienne
• Second prize*: MUSICA: Why Is The Universe Beautiful, produced by Live Company Ltd and "Journey to the Solar System", produced by Donetsk Planetarium in collaboration with Fulldome Film Society
• Third prize*: Dream to Fly, produced by The Heavens of Copernicus and "A Starry Tale", produced by Kagaya Studios.

*: both the second and third prizes were awarded to 2 entries each.

In relation to the other categories of the contest – Music Shows and Short Films – the Jury preferred not to assign the awards to any specific productions. Instead they decided to give honorable mentions to the following films:

Music Shows

• "The Violin Planet", produced by Nizhny Novgorod Planetarium
• Lichtmond - Universe of Light, produced by the Planetarium Hamburg in collaboration with Blu Phase Media
• "Big Musical Journey", produced by State Autonomous Cultural Institution of Yaroslavl region “Valentina Tereshkova Cultural and Educational Centre” and Svensons Art Media

Short Films

• LIGHT, produced by ZEISS
• Flight of Fancy, produced by Fulldome Film Society
• "Hamburg Planetarium Flythrough", produced by Mirage3D

Audience Awards

• Feature Film: "A Starry Tale", produced by Kagaya Studios
• Music Show: "Big Musical Journey", produced by State Autonomous Cultural Institution of Yaroslavl region “Valentina Tereshkova Cultural and Educational Centre” and Svensons Art Media
• Short Film: LIGHT, produced by ZEISS

Congratulations to all the Festival winners!