Golden Dolphin

Type: Festival / trade show / competition Frequency: Annual (February) Location: Moscow, Russia Founded: ~2001 Organizer: Gennady Grutsya (president); Elena Gushchina (coordinator)

Overview

The Golden Dolphin International Photo and Film Festival (Moscow International Dive Show “Golden Dolphin”) is the largest dive show in Eastern Europe, combining a trade exhibition, an underwater photo competition, and an underwater film festival. Held annually in Moscow at venues including the historic “Gostiny Dvor” palace near Red Square, the show features photography and video contests with a $10,000+ prize fund, awarding “Golden Dolphin” statuettes to winners across numerous categories.

History on Wetpixel

2007 (VII Festival)

Matt Segal posted the call for entries and rules on Wetpixel. The photo competition accepted “wet” photos (two-thirds water required) across categories including Grand-Prix, Author’s Portfolio, Man and the Sea, Underwater Inhabitants, Wide Angle, Macro, and Audience’s Sympathy. No registration fee. The dead line was December 10, 2006, and prints were submitted by mail to Moscow. The video festival accepted entries in categories including Best TV Program, Best Camera Work, Big Trip, Best Animal Film, Diving in Russia, and Wreck. (^[1])

Winners included Wetpixel members Marco Wannenmacher (n@utilus), Dean Burman (DeanB), and Gyula Somogyi (Jules/Helioxfilm). (^[2])

2008 (VIII Festival, February 14–17)

The show took place at Gostiny Dvor, 150 meters from Red Square, with more than 230 exhibitors from 33 countries and 23,000 visitors. The festival celebrated the 65th anniversary of the Aqualung invention and featured the “Cousteau Odyssey” flag. Highlights included meetings with North Pole deepwater “Mir” submersible expedition members (Chilingarov, Sagalevich), the 110th birthday celebration of Lodovico Mares (founder of Mares), and appearances by free diving champion Stefane Mifsun and Russian cave diver Natalia Molchanova.

The photo competition received 480 entries from 17 countries. Olga Kamenskaya won the Grand-Prix. Two new categories — “Best Underwater Photographer of the Year” (won by Sergey Ilin) and “Best Author’s Photo Gallery” — were introduced. The video Grand Prize went to Danny Van Belle for “The windows of life.” Sony was the primary partner for the video festival and Olympus for the photo festival.

Dean Burman placed III in “Best Camera Work” for “Lair of the Water Wolf” and Somogyi Gyula placed III in “Wreck” for “Closed Spaces.” (^[3])

2013 (February 14–17)

Adam Hanlon attended as an exhibitor and filed a show report. Key observations:

• Russian market preference: Russian photographers showed a significant preference for Canon cameras. Three new Canon 5D Mark III housings debuted at the show.
• Nauticam: Russian distributor Pavel Kolpakov displayed the full range including housings for Nikon D600, D800, D4, Canon 5D MkIII, 1DX, and a Red Scarlet housing.
• Subal: Rolf Sempert showed the Nikon D800 housing and the first Canon 5D MkIII housing.
• Seacam: Displayed their Canon 5D Mark III housing with the distinctive silver appearance.
• BS Kinetics: Carbon fiber housings, announced a Red Epic housing in carbon fiber for better thermal insulation in arctic waters.
• Hammerhead: A Russian producer of bright yellow tube video housings rated to 200m, featuring universal electronic controls for Sony consumer camcorders at a competitive system price of $1,100.
• Rebreathers: Growing popularity in the Russian market, with Sentinel, rEvo, and Poseidon models on display.

(^[4])

Significance

The Golden Dolphin represents the primary window into the Russian and Eastern European underwater photography market. Its coverage on Wetpixel provided rare insights into regional equipment preferences (Canon dominance), Russian manufacturers, and an international community of underwater filmmakers and photographers that rarely intersected with the Western dive show circuit.

References

• ^[5] — editorial
• ^[6] — editorial
• ^[7] — editorial
• ^[8] — editorial