Golden Dolphin

Type: Festival / trade show / competition
Frequency: Annual (February)
Location: Moscow, Russia (Gostiny Dvor palace, ~150m from Red Square)
Founded: ~2001 (Festival V held in 2006)
Organizer: Gennady Grutsya (president); Elena Gushchina (coordinator)
Website: mosfest.ru (historical)

Overview

The Golden Dolphin International Photo and Film Festival (formally the Moscow International Dive Show “Golden Dolphin”) is the largest dive show in Eastern Europe, combining a specialized trade exhibition for scuba diving, spear fishing, and water-based recreation with an international underwater photo competition and underwater film festival. Held annually in Moscow at 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. (^[1])

The festival also includes meetings with notable diving personalities, equipment exhibitions from international manufacturers, educational diving programs, rebreather displays, and evening entertainment including live music and gala award ceremonies. (^[2])

Competition Format

Photo Competition

The photo competition accepts only “wet” photographs (two-thirds water required) across multiple categories. Entry is free of charge. Physical prints (30x40 or 30x45 cm) and slides (24x36mm) are submitted by mail to Moscow. Each author may submit up to 5 photos and 10 slides that have not previously competed at the festival. (^[3])

Photo categories (as of 2007):

• Grand-Prix (Photo of the Year) — jury-selected from first-place winners
• Author’s Portfolio — 10 colour slides
• Seas, Rivers and Lakes of Russia — images from Russian waters
• Man and the Sea — underwater images including human subjects
• Underwater Inhabitants — fish or animals as central subject
• Wide Angle — wide-angle underwater photography
• Macro — scale 1:1, 1:2, 1:3, or 2:1
• Audience’s Sympathy — audience choice (first place only)

(^[4])

Two additional categories were introduced in 2008: Best Underwater Photographer of the Year and Best Author’s Photo Gallery. (^[5])

Video/Film Festival

The film festival accepts underwater films up to 60 minutes, with no registration fee. Submissions were accepted on DVD, mini DV, DVCAM, and Betacam SP in PAL format. The official festival language is Russian, but scripts may be provided in English. (^[6])

Film categories:

• Grand-Prix — best film of the year
• Best TV Program about U/W World — educational, ecological focus
• Best Camera Work — mastery of cinematography, unique conditions
• Big Trip — club or family films promoting diving travel
• Best U/W Animal Film — wildlife filmmaking
• Diving in the Native Expanses — promoting diving in CIS waters
• Wreck — historical and technical wreck films
• Best Music Clip — musical films about diving (max 10 minutes)
• Black Pearl — contribution to diving

(^[7])

Awards

First-place winners receive a Golden Dolphin statuette, a monetary gratuity, and a commemorative diploma. Second and third place receive prizes and diplomas. The Grand-Prix winner in each division (photo and film) receives the top statuette. (^[8])

History on Wetpixel

2006 (Festival V)

Eric Cheng reported the results of the fifth Moscow International Diving Festival, noting the “Golden Dolphin” photo competition winners included “some fantastic images and familiar names.” Wetpixel member Dareko won the Grand Prix, described by commenter randapex as “amazing.” (^[9])

2007 (Festival VII)

Matt Segal posted the call for entries on Wetpixel in November 2006. The print submission deadline was December 10, 2006, and the video deadline was December 25, 2006. (^[10])

Wetpixel member Marco Wannenmacher (n@utilus) announced on the forum that he had placed second in the Underwater Inhabitants category. Dean Burman (DeanB) confirmed that Gyula Somogyi (Jules/Helioxfilm) won first place in the Wreck video category for his film “Ships of Darkness,” and Burman himself placed third in the same category. Somogyi described the festival as “well organized, full with parties, standard vodka, borcs and pirogs.” (^[11])

The official winners announcement was posted on Wetpixel by Matt Segal. (^[12])

Somogyi also mentioned the Golden Dolphin in a rebreather discussion thread, noting he had checked out the Evolution and RON passive SCR rebreathers at the Moscow festival and won first place in the Wreck film category. (^[13])

2008 (Festival VIII, February 14–17)

The show drew more than 230 exhibitors from 33 countries and over 23,000 visitors to Gostiny Dvor. About 150 journalists from more than 90 media agencies were accredited. (^[14])

Key events at the 2008 show:

• North Pole expedition: A round table with members of the “Mir” submersible expedition that descended to the North Pole ocean floor at 4,000 meters depth, featuring Arthur Chilingarov, Anatoly Sagalevich, Eugeny Chernyaev, and Vladimir Grudzev. (^[15])
• Mares centenary: Celebration of the 110th birthday of Lodovico Mares, founder of Mares, with daily presentations, a fashion show of women’s dive gear, Miss Mares Show, and competitions. Stefan Michl, vice-president of Mares, attended the press conference. (^[16])
• Aqualung anniversary: The 65th anniversary of the Aqualung invention was commemorated. The festival carried the “Cousteau Odyssey” flag. (^[17])
• Record holders: Free diving world champion Stefane Mifsun (record apnea: 10 min 04 sec), deep scuba record holder Pascal Bernabe (330 meters), Florida cave diver Jarod Jablonsky, and Russian free diving champion Natalia Molchanova attended. French cave diver and rebreather inventor Sylvain Redoutey also visited. (^[18])
• Golden Dolphin Stars Avenue: A new creative project was launched with Russian celebrities including rock musician Andrey Makarevich and TV personalities. (^[19])

Photo competition: 480 entries from 17 countries. Olga Kamenskaya won the Grand-Prix. The new “Best Underwater Photographer of the Year” award went to Sergey Ilin. Denis Palbiani dominated with multiple first and second places across Wide Angle and Black-and-white categories. (^[20])

Film competition: Danny Van Belle won both the Grand-Prix and Best Camera Work for “The windows of life.” Guy & Anita Chaumette won the Profi-film category for “Beyond the blue.” Dean Burman placed third in Best Camera Work for “Lair of the Water Wolf,” and Somogyi Gyula placed third in Wreck for “Closed Spaces.” Natalia Molchanova placed second in Best Music Clip for “Illusions.” (^[21])

Industry partners: Sony was the primary partner of the video festival, presenting HD camcorders adapted for underwater shooting. Olympus was the primary partner for the photo festival. Nimar and BS Kinetics housings were exhibited. (^[22])

Dean Burman posted live from Moscow on the Wetpixel forum, describing the experience: “just turn up get merry and wander round Red Square it was fantastic!!! It was very much like LIDS more of a diveshow with the image festival being part of it.” He noted the gala ceremony featured “Russian film stars and TV presenters” and entertainment including belly dancing. (^[23])

2010

Wetpixel forum member n@utilus placed second in the competition, after which he was contacted by the Russian dive magazine Ultimate Depth to use his image as a cover. The magazine offered $150 but never paid after receiving the high-resolution file, and n@utilus posted a warning to the community about non-payment. (^[24])

2011

Alex Mustard noted that his photographs of Egypt appeared as billboard displays at multiple dive shows that year, including “at Golden Dolphin in Moscow,” alongside the Paris Salon De Plongee, Dusseldorf Boot Show, and London Big Scuba Show. (^[25])

2013 (February 14–17)

Adam Hanlon attended as an exhibitor and filed a detailed show report — the most comprehensive Golden Dolphin coverage on Wetpixel. Alex Mustard noted in his EUDI Milan report that it was “quite a weekend for dive shows, with Our World Underwater in Chicago, the Golden Dolphin in Moscow and EUDI in Milan.” (^[26])

Key observations from the 2013 show:

• Russian market preferences: Russian photographers showed a significant preference for Canon cameras. Three new Canon 5D Mark III housings debuted at the show (from Subal, Seacam, and BS Kinetics). (^[27])
• 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. The Red housing’s mechanical control system was described as “the most sophisticated mechanically controlled housing I’ve encountered thus far.” Photographer Andrej Belic later confirmed photos of this housing originated from his Golden Dolphin show coverage. (^[28], ^[29])
• Subal: Rolf Sempert showed the Nikon D800 housing and debuted the Canon 5D MkIII housing, continuing the tradition of small, light housings with improved ergonomics and a removable monitor backplate for the PS-30 live-view finder. (^[30])
• Seacam: Displayed their Canon 5D Mark III housing with a distinctive silver appearance and matching strobe arms. (^[31])
• BS Kinetics: Carbon fiber housings, including a 5D MkIII model. Owner Bodo Sutterer announced a Red Epic housing in carbon fiber for better thermal insulation in arctic waters. Housings were adapted to accept Nauticam magnified viewfinders. (^[32])
• Nord Sea: A Russian producer of dive lights and underwater surveillance systems for commercial diving. World record rebreather deep diver Pascal Bernabe used their lights. (^[33])
• Hammerhead: A Russian producer of bright yellow tube video housings rated to 200m depth, featuring universal electronic controls for Sony consumer camcorders (including 3D models) at a system price of $1,100 including housing, 3-inch monitor, electronics, and port. (^[34])
• abelic.net: Andrej Belic exhibited his Nikonos Conversion System (adapting Nikonos lenses for Nikon SLRs) and a prototype universal electronically controlled housing for all Nikon and Canon SLRs with USB connection, piezo buttons, electronic RGB histograms, focus peaking, integrated electronic viewfinder, and 7-inch HD monitor. (^[35])
• Rebreathers: Growing popularity in the Russian market, with Sentinel (trimix), rEvo (with Shearwater electronics), Poseidon (recreational), and a custom gold-anodized AP-Diving Inspiration described as “Real Russian style!” on display. (^[36])

Notable Golden Dolphin Winners

Nadya Kulagina, a Russian underwater photographer whose Thistlegorm wreck images were featured on Wetpixel, was noted as having “won prizes in international competitions like the Golden Turtle and Golden Dolphin.” (^[37])

Significance

The Golden Dolphin represented the primary window into the Russian and Eastern European underwater photography and videography market. Its coverage on Wetpixel provided rare insights into:

• Regional equipment preferences: Canon dominance in the Russian market, local manufacturers producing affordable video housings and dive lights. (^[38])
• Russian manufacturers: Companies like Hammerhead and Nord Sea that were largely unknown outside Eastern Europe, offering innovative and competitively priced products. (^[39])
• International crossover: Wetpixel members including Dean Burman, Gyula Somogyi, Marco Wannenmacher, and Danny Van Belle competed and won awards, bridging the Western and Russian underwater imaging communities. (^[40], ^[41])
• Cultural spectacle: The festival combined international underwater competition with distinctly Russian elements — vodka-fueled celebrations, celebrity appearances, military expedition heroes, and elaborate gala ceremonies that set it apart from Western dive shows like DEMA. (^[42], ^[43])

The show also served as a major debut venue for underwater imaging equipment, with manufacturers like Nauticam, Subal, Seacam, and BS Kinetics choosing Golden Dolphin to unveil new housings alongside or instead of Western shows. (^[44])

Timeline

• ~2001: Golden Dolphin festival founded in Moscow.
• 2006-02: Festival V held; Wetpixel member Dareko wins photo Grand Prix. (^[45])
• 2006-11: Matt Segal posts call for entries for Festival VII on Wetpixel. (^[46])
• 2007-02: Festival VII held; Wetpixel members n@utilus, DeanB, and Jules (Helioxfilm) win awards. (^[47])
• 2008-02-14/17: Festival VIII at Gostiny Dvor; 230+ exhibitors, 33 countries, 23,000 visitors. Grand-Prix photo: Olga Kamenskaya. Grand-Prix film: Danny Van Belle. (^[48])
• 2010-02: Festival held; n@utilus places second in competition. (^[49])
• 2011-02: Alex Mustard images displayed on Egypt tourism billboards at the show. (^[50])
• 2013-02-14/17: Adam Hanlon exhibits and reports; three Canon 5D MkIII housings debuted; Nauticam Red Scarlet housing shown. (^[51])

References

• ^[52] — editorial (Eric Cheng)
• ^[53] — editorial (Matt Segal)
• ^[56] — editorial (Adam Hanlon)
• ^[57] — editorial (Alex Mustard), mentions Golden Dolphin