Iran has announced the finalists of the IV National Internet Content Award

The IRI Award for authors of socially significant projects on the Internet will be held on June 5, 2025 in Moscow at the Mosfilm Cinema and Concert Complex. The winners will be awarded in 22 nominations.

Alexey Goreslavsky, General Director of the Institute for Internet Development (ANO IRI), Timur Weinstein, General Producer of NTV, Chairman of the IRI Production Council and the Jury of the Award, Georgy Dolmazyan, theater director, Honorary Artist of the city of Moscow and director of the Award, Pavel Derevyanko, theater and film actor, and Anet Sai, singer, spoke about the shortlisted projects. and the partners of the Award at the event, which was hosted by the interviewer, the host of the show "Alyona, damn!" Alyona Zhigalova.

"The IRI Award is growing and changing, along with the demands and interests of Russians. The award is given not just for the best content on the Internet, but for socially significant projects. People don't want hype, but honest stories in which they will find characters close to them with clear values that will help them understand current events and make sense of what is happening. It is no coincidence that one of the main themes of this year's finalist projects is their own and, in general, modern heroes, defenders of the country. And one of the most vividly represented genres is projects for teenagers that you can watch with your children. All the finalists were able to package important meanings for society in viral Internet formats, winning the attention of the audience, and this is their main achievement. They are all already winners," said Alexey Goreslavsky.

IRI announced the finalists of the Award in the main categories, including: "Video clip up to three minutes", "Documentary project", "Game series over 30 minutes", "Short film project", "Telegram Channel", "Special project in online media", "Animated content", "Game series up to 30 minutes", "Vertical format project", "Non-scripted project", "Viral content", "Podcast", "Blog", "Music track", "Social Internet campaign".

"The Expert Council of the IRI Prize has identified the finalists. Now it's up to the Jury to vote for the best of the best. We will rely on a balance between relevance and depth. And it won't be easy, considering that strong works reflecting key industry trends have come to the finish line. But the main thing that unites them is that they are all so—called "warm content", and they talk about what is kind, fair and honest. We see that the authors have learned how to package serious, important and sometimes bold things in formats that are convenient for them and do it in a way that pleases the viewer, who now has a huge demand for meaningful content. Most of the applications this year came from documentary projects — this nomination is leading from year to year. Non—scripted projects and videos of up to three minutes are also in the lead. This confirms that Internet projects can be well done and carry the right messages," Timur Weinstein emphasized.

The director of the Award, Georgy Dolmazyan, revealed the concept and details of the upcoming award ceremony: "This year, I think we have an amazing theme, because it is diverse: "Born twice". Russian content was also born a second time, because it became sovereign. Our award will be divided into several parts: we will go from childhood, from memories, we will come to the middle age, and then we will go to the final. Because this development should make us individuals, responsibility comes with age. And this journey is the main motive of our award this year. I am sure that, as in previous awards, you will be very surprised in a good way. Because we will discover unique, absolutely amazing people."

The event also featured a collaboration between designer Alena Akhmadullina and the IRI Award, created specifically for the ceremony.

According to tradition, the winners in special nominations will also be announced at the IRI Award ceremony, including the "Family Year Project", "Strength in Truth", "Cultural Code" and others.

"One of the stated themes is very close to me — love for a small homeland. I myself was born and raised in Taganrog, a small town in the Rostov region, famous for its natives: Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Faina Ranevskaya and many others were born there. I love Taganrog more and more every year and I invite you all to visit. I really want to breathe more life and love into this city — it is the most worthy, and we will definitely continue to help its social projects, sports, and families. So thank you to the award for the opportunity for the participants to draw attention to their roots and thereby support their hometown or region," Pavel Derevyanko said.

VK Video will be the digital partner of the Award. The gastronomic partner is a young Russian company that produces wines from grapes harvested in the southernmost region of Russia, in Dagestan — Derbent Wine. The official voice of the IRI Award will be actor Sergey Burunov.

The award was established by the Institute for the Development of the Internet (ANO "IRI") to promote creative online content and its authors. The first award ceremony took place in the summer of 2022. The finalists of the Award are determined by the Expert Council, and the winners are selected by a professional jury.

The full list of finalists of the IV National Internet Content Award is available on the official website.