St. Petersburg is one of the world's greatest cities with stunning architecture, glorious views, majestic plazas and the sophistication of a major tourist destination.

UNICA is the festival where nations compete with superb programmes of films from amateurs and film students. How do British films compare with those from Germany, Romania, Norway or Lichtenstein?

Meet fellow film making enthusiasts at all the social events.

Full details on the special website: http://unica2015.spb.ru

Dom Kino / Rodina

The home of the UNICA 2015 is sometimes dubbed "the coolest cinema since 1917" - an odd description that merely reflects its place as one of the city's earliest cinemas. It is near the Nevskiy Prospect, one of the city's best known streets. It is also not far from The Hermitage Museum.

The screenings of national film programmes will be in the kino. Each nations has 60 minutes to present its programme.

There will also be opening and closing galas with entertainments and banquets plus one whole day and one half-day excursion. The cost for all of this is 250Euros.

At UNICA the national federation of film clubs for each member nation puts on a programme of up to an hour's length with films from their country.

A great many are subtitled in English and some made in English. It is a fascinating glimpse into what we have in common and where the differences in our tastes lie.

You can see some of the films screened at UNICA 2014 here.

Read about the British programme here.

There are also excursions during the festival - we can bet that some of St. Petersburg's famous tourist attractions will be on the list this year.

Add to those the opening and closing gala shows, usually featuring music / dance and sometimes acrobatics and the gala banquets and you have plenty of social time.

Surprisingly often there will be side presentations with offerings of national delicacies and drinks.

International Tensions

The UNICA President recently reminded us that even at the height of the cold war, a UNICA festival took place in Russia. When Britain and Argentina were at war their delegates sat together at UNICA. The organisation was established to help peace by bringing people together through their common hobby of film making.

On a practical note Ukraine is well over 1,000 miles from St. Petersburg.

Visa

British delegates need to get a visa from the Russian consulate in Edinburgh or London.Various formal documents are required including an "invitation" from Russia, which can be obtained from the UNICA2015 team or from your hotel. New this year is the requirement for having your fingerprints taken, which can only be done at consulate offices in Edinburgh or London. Normally this means visiting for around 20 minutes. Passports and visas are normally ready a week or so after application. Many people recommend using a visa agency to pre-check your paperwork, collect the finished passport and visa and post it on to you. There are many such agencies. We have had good reports about Real Russian (http://realrussia.co.uk)

The basic price of a visa is £50 but that involves collecting it yourself a week or so after application. Using an agency and having it posted to you will be more like£130.

Travel

There are direct flights from Heathrow. From most UK airports there are flight via an airline hub such as London, Amsterdam, Frankfurt, Paris or Warsaw. We strongly suggest you allow over an hour at each hub for transfer between flights since these "hubs" are enormous and getting round them takes time. It is better to have a little time to kill having a meal or a snack than to be rushing through an airport.

You can get air fares which permit cancellation of flights but these are usually much more expensive than the lowest prices.

Russian time is 3 hours ahead of British time – thus an outbound journey which seems to take 7½ hours is actually 4½ hours!

There are many websites which will search air fares for you. (We like www.expedia.co.uk ) Many of those websites can also book you hotels giving you a bargain deal on flights and hotels combined. Just make sure the hotel you choose is not too far from the UNICA Venue

Hotels

At present the exchange rate is in British favour and you can good deals on hotels. (Note: If you visit the UNICA 2015 website their list of hotel prices is out of date and you will find better rates now.)

It is practical to book using an agency that allows cancellation without penalty, just in case for some reason you cannot travel.

The hotels nearest the UNICA venue in Rodina Kino are all small ones and some are already fully booked. Many of us actually prefer a hotel 15 to 20 minutes walk away which gives us a little exercise each day!