A new section "Program Director's Choice" will be presented at the IV Winter Festival

The IV Open Russian Film Festival of author's cinema "Winter", which will be held in Moscow from December 1-7, presents a new section — "Program Director's Choice", where selectors from leading Russian festivals will present one film each, to which they would like to attract the special attention of the audience.

"This year, a new section will appear in the program of the Winter Festival — The Program Director's Choice. This is a special format for closing the Russian film festival season, a kind of Festival of Festivals.: We have invited the Program directors of four major Russian festivals — "Window to Europe", "Spirit of Fire", "New Movement" and "In Short". One of the key people of the festival, the Program Director, will present a film from the program of his festival, chosen by him as his personal main Discovery or an underrated work of the past year, and will talk about what his festival has been remembered for this season. This is how we want to sum up the results, bring together a professional view of Russian cinema in 2025 and create a festive but meaningful communication space between festivals, authors and viewers," says Natalia Mokritskaya, the festival's program director.

As part of this program, a round table will be held where the heads of the largest Russian festivals, directors and producers will gather to discuss current trends in the film industry, share experiences and talk about the specifics of their festivals.

In the Program Director's Choice section, viewers will see films: "Adult Son" by Ivan Shkundov — the choice of the program director of the Sitora Aliyeva Short and debut Film Festival; "Pearl" by Tina Barkalaya — the choice of the program director of the Window to Europe Russian Film Festival by Andrey Apostolov; "Fixed Stars" by Ivan Kurbakov — the choice of the program director of the festival The young films "New Movement" by Vadim Rutkovsky and "Northern Station" by Sergey Ovechko are the choice of the program director of the International Festival of Cinematic Debuts "Spirit of Fire" by Peter Shepotinnik.

"Adult Son" at the festival "Shorter" received a special jury prize — the award went to actress Daria Mikhailova for her role. The Pearl at the Window to Europe was awarded a Special mention by the jury "For Connecting the Worlds" and the Special Prize "VKontakte Window". The "New Movement" show awarded "Fixed Stars" for the best visual solution, and the "Spirit of Fire" jury awarded "Severnaya Station" the prize for the Best Female Role (Daria Alypova) and "For the Best Cinematography" (Maria Falileeva).

The audience of the Winter Festival will be able to see these paintings on the big screen, feel their atmosphere and form their own impression — the screenings will be held from December 1-7 at the Khudozhestvenny cinema.

As part of the festival's out-of-competition program, a series of films dedicated to the 80th anniversary of Nikita Mikhalkov, the great master of the Moscow School of Auteur Cinema, will be shown. The screening will take place in Moscow's legendary cinema "Illusion" from December 1 to December 3. The program includes the director's term paper "These Lips and green Eyes" (1967), his thesis "A Quiet Day at the End of the War" (1970), as well as the painting "Slave of Love" (1975), celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, "Unfinished Piece for a Mechanical Piano" (1979).

In addition, in honor of the 80th anniversary of the Great Victory, a special screening of the film "The Battle for Sevastopol" directed by Sergei Mokritsky will take place.

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.

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 film's director Danil Ivanov was named the best director, and Anton Kuznetsov was named the best actor.