At the Israeli Embassy of St. Petersburg, Russia, St. Petersburg State University of Film & Television awards Shira Billig first prize for "Pop 30" via zoom link.

In a zoom ceremony today at the Israeli embassy in St. Petersburg, Russia, the deputy rector of The St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, Oksana Laricheva, awarded Shira Billig the director of "Pop 30", first prize for "Best Fictional Film" at the Piterkit annual International Student Film Festival. The Festival is run by the University, one of Russia's most prestigious film schools founded over 100 years ago. Consular staff member Olga Slov hosted the zoom meeting and translated for Ms. Laricheva. In her address to Shira, Ms. Laricheva said that the festival judges were deeply impressed that the film had been made by such a young director from a young film school. To date, "Pop 30" has been screened at 25 film festivals worldwide, including Palm Springs ShortsFest, St. Louis International Film Festival, the Flickers Rhode Island Film Festival, and the St. John's International Women's Film Festival.