The IV Winter Festival announced the dates

The IV Open Russian Auteur Film Festival "Winter" will be held in Moscow from December 1-7, 2025. The festival begins accepting applications for participation in the Competition Program and announces the holding of the Winter Cinema Market of Auteur Cinema, as well as opens the reception of applications for it.

The founders, as in previous years, will be the Alliance Film Company and the Russian Cultural Foundation. The film festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Feature films with a duration of at least 60 minutes, produced in 2024-2025, not broadcast on television, not released in cinemas, DVDs and VoD rentals, not posted in online cinemas and on online platforms, are accepted for participation in the Competition.

Films presented by film companies, film studios, independent producers, distributors and any copyright holders can participate in the festival. In addition to the Main Prize, awards for best Director, best screenplay, best male and female roles, and best visual solution will be presented at the screening.

One of the key events of the screening will be the launch of a film market focused on original films, where young directors and producers will present their projects to the professional community: distributors, platforms, festival selectors and potential partners. Films at different stages of production will be able to participate in the film market, from development to postproduction and full project readiness. Projects at the pre-production stage must have their financing confirmed and the filming period approved.

Maxim Korolev, the general producer of the festival, notes that the goal of the festival is not only to showcase films and present awards, but also to be truly useful to their creators.:
"A large number of high-quality auteur films are being created in Russia, which, unfortunately, often does not find its audience. The government supports him, but young directors and producers often do not know how to further promote their films. We decided that the festival should be not only a platform for premieres, but also a place of professional communication between creators and distributors. Now we will have two film markets: a summer one in Veliky Novgorod as part of the New Movement Festival, and a winter one in Moscow as part of the Winter Festival."

Natalia Mokritskaya, the festival's Program Director, emphasizes:
"We strive to ensure that Winter is not only a vibrant cultural event, but also works for the future of Russian cinema. Supporting authors, creating conditions for them to have a dialogue with the industry, and finding ways to reach the audience are the key tasks that we set for ourselves. The festival annually reflects the most important trends and searches in the author's cinema. We see how accents are changing, how young cinema is developing, and our task is to capture this process and help it develop."

According to the management of the festival, in 2024, "Winter" was attended by more than 11 thousand spectators for all days. The main award last year was given to the film "Operation Cold". The director of the film, Danil Ivanov, was recognized as the best director, and Anton Kuznetsov — the best actor.

The films of the festival were evaluated by a jury consisting of leading figures of Russian cinema: People's Artist of Russia Irina Rozanova, director and actor Sergey Taramaev, actress and director Lyubov Lvova, as well as director, screenwriter and actor Anton Filipenko. The chairman of the jury was Sergey Titinkov, the chief producer of the screening and film production of Channel One.

The Winter Open Russian Auteur Film Festival is held with the aim of increasing the prestige of Russian cinema, promoting auteur films, summarizing the results of the film season and promoting the development of the film distribution system in Russia. Natalia Mokritskaya is the program Director of the festival. Maxim Korolev is the general producer of the festival.

The objectives of the festival include restoring the audience's interest in auteur cinema, supporting the creative search for a new film language, developing young talents and strengthening the authority of Russian cinema.