From 14 to 17 February, 2013, St. Petersburg hosted the festival of short fashion films “A Shaded View on Fashion Film” (ASVOFF), organised by Aurora Fashion Week Russia. It was the first time that the festival, which premiered at the 2008 Paris Fashion Week, took place in St. Petersburg. ASVOFF St. Petersburg will become an annual event in the cultural life of the city. TOHOLOGY talked to the winner of ASVOFF St. Petersburg, a young Petersburg director Alexander Chaika. In addition to the international format of the event, we were attracted by the fact that the director's movie was shot at the hotel. What hotel was it and why was it picked as a film location? How do events, associated with the fashion industry, influence the sphere of tourism? You will find the answers to those and other questions in the interview.

TOHOLOGY: First of all, could you tell us a little about yourself?

Alexander Chaika: I am an aspiring film-maker and director. I kept a personal media video project for 2 years. At the moment I am doing fashion videos.

The winning short movie STAIRWAY, with which Alexander Chaika beat his twenty-one competitors:

TOHOLOGY: For your episode, you chose Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg. Was it a deliberate choice, or would any 5-star hotel have sufficed?

Alexander Chaika: I was looking for a luxury hotel for the shooting of the hotel episode. After reviewing several hotels of St. Petersburg online, the film crew and I went on to personally visit all the hotels. The interior of the Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg was perfect for our film. Stark black granite, white orchids, high staircase – this is what we were looking for.

TOHOLOGY: How do you see the future of event-related tourism in St. Petersburg? How attractive is the city for the fashion industry, in particular?

Alexander Chaika: The fashion industry in St. Petersburg is actively developing. Each year, our city is visited by more and more world-class fashion figures. This year, it was Diane Pernet who brought the ASVOFF fashion film festival to St. Petersburg. I think that hosting this event is a great indicator of the increasing interest that the fashion industry is showing towards the cultural capital of Russia.

TOHOLOGY: You shot your film in Corinthia hotel, the festival took place at the cinema in Angleterre hotel, and the official hotel partner is the W St. Petersburg hotel. How important is it for hotels to participate in such projects and what can the fashion industry offer to hotels?

Alexander Chaika: We filmed the first part of STAIRWAY at the Corinthia Hotel St. Petersburg. It is important for me, as a director, that the end result should match my inner vision. The hotel's interiors became the epitome of my idea and an important part of the film.

The viewing part of the festival took part at the cinema of the Angleterre hotel, which became an excellent platform for this event. A large cinema offered enough space for all fashion film lovers to visit ASVOFF.

W St. Petersburg was the official hotel partner. In February of this year, the hotel hosted a press-conference featuring the manager of the ASVOFF festival Diane Pernet.

It is hard to imagine the further development of the fashion industry in our city without the support of the hotels of St. Petersburg. Hosting cultural and social fashion industry events is equally beneficial to the fashion industry and the hotels of St. Petersburg.

We thank Alexander for this interview and wish him success at the sixth season of ASVOFF in Paris, where he will participate as a winner of the St. Petersburg contest.