Short Film News (SFN)- The Black Nights Film Festival announced that the Russian film critic and festival’s programmer Igor Gouskov has passed away.

Gouskov, who lived in Paris in recent years, died because of a brain tumor.
"Igor was one of the most indispensable people who shaped the program of the PÖFF program not only with his recommendations, but also with enormous cultural erudition," said Tiina Lokk, the festival director. "A warm, passionate and very clever person living in the name of cinema.”

Gouskov acted as Black Nights program assistant since 2015. His task was to search films from the CIS countries and elsewhere in Eastern Europe.

Gouskov, born in the city of Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky in 1967, studied as a journalist in Moscow, completing himself later in the field of film science. In 2010-2013 he worked as the program director of the Vologda International Film Festival "Voices" and until recently the Cinemas Film Festival's program "Quinzaine des Réalisateurs" as advisor to CIS countries.

He was one of the 35th Fajr International Film Festival’s guests and came to Iran in April. Short Film News sends deepest condolence to his family and colleagues.