Memorial ceremony: how was the first day of TEFI at the Bolshoi Theatre?

In the entire 30-year history of the TEFI National Award ceremony, the statuette was awarded posthumously for only the third time. On June 9, 2025, Semyon Eremin, the military commander of Izvestia, became the winner of the country's main television award. On the first day, REN TV correspondent Murad Magomedov and Channel Five's projects "Day of Good Deeds" and "Signature Recipe" also received awards. Ahead is the determination of the best TV series, among which are the nominees from the REN TV channel: "The Librarian" and "The Zig Zag Gang". This year's laureates also include the travel show "100 Places to Eat." Nikolai Baskov and Sergey Lazarev received statuettes as TV presenters on Monday evening. Read more about the winning projects and their authors in the Izvestia report.

Awards for correspondents of the Izvestia News Center

Many of today's young television staff who started out as students are familiar with this special feeling of awe when, for the first time, you find yourself in the editorial office among professionals who have been familiar with you through the screen up to this point, and you see Orpheus in the most honorable place, or even more than one. Over the 30 years of TEFI's existence, the recognizable bronze statuette has become a symbol of the dedicated service of television crews to their work, a model of quality, and the most coveted award.

— "TEFI" is a prestige. When people recognize their own, it's more expensive than any award," Leonid Yakubovich, the host of Field of Miracles, who appeared at the ceremony, told Izvestia. He has repeatedly won the award himself, including the very first one in 1995.

This year, participants in 52 nominations applied for awards. The first coveted Orpheias were awarded in the category of "Information and socio-political broadcasting".

— First of all, I would like to mention our colleagues from Izvestia, including Semyon Eremin, because his original film was presented today. He is always in our memory. Of course, probably the most important nomination for us is the documentary "The Battle for Avdiivka," said Svetlana Balanova, General Director of the National Media Group.

Semyon Yeremin's work on the liberation of Avdiivka won an award in the Documentary Film category. The journalist died a year ago as a result of a drone attack in a special operation area while filming a report.

At the very first TEFI Award in 1995, the Orpheus statuette was also awarded posthumously. "For his special contribution to the development of television," the award was awarded to Vladislav Listyev, who was killed a few months earlier. His name was remembered at the ceremony on this day as well — new generations of journalists gave a standing ovation when the chronicle of 30 years ago appeared on the big screen.

Dedication in the performance of professional duty is one of the main principles of many of our colleagues. Murad Magomedov, a correspondent of the Dagestan bureau of Izvestia News Center, and Ramazan Rashidov, a cameraman, received a TEFI in the Information Story nomination for their story "Airport Capture in Makhachkala." In October 2023, the journalists went to the epicenter of the riots in the capital of the republic. At that time, the intensity of events was so strong that part of the crowd was able to break into the airport terminal building.

— I work with the cameraman Ramazan Rashidov in the North Caucasus. We are the owners of TEFI from the region. This is especially valuable to us. I want to say thank you to [the CEO of Izvestia] To Vladimir Tyulin and [Izvestia's editor—in—chief] Mikhail Frolov, because it is very gratifying to work in the region and feel supported, protected, and that you are a full-fledged employee who works in a huge mechanism - in our holding company NMG. We will continue to work! Murad Magomedov said from the stage.

Today's laureates also use their voices to help others. The Channel Five project "Day of Good Deeds", which won the nomination "Social Program", tells about children who are in dire need of treatment. Thanks to the campaign, several guys receive help every month.

Who else received the "TEFI" in 2025

The second evening block of the award was devoted to entertainment broadcasting.

— There was a very difficult moment on Russian television since February 2022, when all entertainment programs turned out to be inappropriate, which was natural and fair. Even educational programs have been sidelined by informational, socio-political, and journalistic projects. Over time, it became clear that, in addition to harsh information, it was necessary to give people rays of hope and harmony for their current lives," Mikhail Shvydkoi, President of the Academy of Russian Television, said at the grand opening of the second stage of TEFI. — This is a very complicated story that requires a lot of precision from everyone who makes television, channel managers, which they try to do delicately, without offending anyone in their intentions.

The ceremony itself is not just honoring the best representatives of the industry, but also a big social event. This year, it was held at one of the most beautiful venues in the capital, the new stage of the Bolshoi Theater, with a red carpet on the approaches to it. The main characters of the national television became her heroes. The ceremony was opened by a fragment from "Swan Lake" performed by the orchestra and artists of the Bolshoi Theater.

— The ballet "Swan Lake" refers us to the events of the 1990s. We can say that the new television began right then. I never thought that the words "nineties" and "classics" would be used in the same sentence. Although, if you remember, in those years people turned around no less than I did on the world stage," Nikolai Tsiskaridze joked, opening the anniversary ceremony as a presenter in the company of Ekaterina Strizhenova.

The victory in the category "Travel Program" was won by the CTC project "100 places to eat". In the "Lifestyle" nomination, the winner was the "Signature Recipe" of Channel Five. Nikolay Baskov and Sergey Lazarev were named the best hosts of the primetime entertainment show, who shared the role in the program "Come on, everyone together!"

— At first, I thought that I, as DiCaprio, would have to kill a bear after all. This is my first statuette. I've given 25 years to television. I live by television, I adore it. Today I want to say a huge thank you to the almighty for giving me such an opportunity to be such a versatile and talented person," Nikolai Baskov said from the stage with his usual humor.

Next, the actor, in the company of Lera Kudryavtseva, replaced Tsiskaridze and Strizhenova as the hosts of the ceremony. Baskov began on a musical note, and then announced the winner in the "Educational Program" nomination. Vladimir Medinsky received the TEFI award for the project "Stories from Russian History". Andrey Malakhov won a statuette in the nomination "Host of an entertainment talk show". The winner in the category of "Reality show" is "Survival in Samarkand".

On the evening of June 10, the second stage of the award will be held. It will be dedicated to TV series. Among the nominees are the urban fantasy "The Librarian" and the detective "The ZIG ZAG Gang," which claims to win in five categories: "Historical Series", "Best Supporting Actor" (Pavel Trubiner, "Cameraman of the series" (Alexey Morozov), "Director of the series" (Vitaly Vorobyov), "The scriptwriter of the series" (Artemiy Korolev, Yuri Bessonov).