The XXIV International Debut Festival "Spirit of Fire" opened in Khanty-Mansiysk

The opening ceremony of the XXIV International Festival of Cinematic Debuts "Spirit of Fire" took place on March 13 at the Yugra-Classic Concert and Theater Center in Khanty-Mansiysk. "Spirit of Fire" is considered one of the most important platforms for debut films, opening up new names and giving young directors the opportunity to express themselves vividly. Every year, the festival gathers leading actors, directors and representatives of the film industry from Russia and other countries in Khanty-Mansiysk. The thematic focus of this year's screening is "Children in the cinema".

The opening ceremony of the XXIV Spirit of Fire Festival was built as a great journey into the world of cinema. The evening began with a symbolic announcement of the arrival of the All—World - Khanty-Mansiysk flight, after which the presenters Elizaveta Boyarskaya and Elchin Azizov greeted the guests as passengers who had landed safely in the capital of the festival. This year's theme, "Children in the Cinema," was revealed throughout the evening through the music and images of the ceremony. Songs from cartoons, children's and family films familiar to several generations were played from the stage, and the conversation of the presenters was built around childhood memory, imagination, first impressions of cinema and the inner freedom from which creativity is born.

Olga Lyubimova, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, delivered a video message to the guests and participants of the festival.
"Dear friends, I congratulate you on the opening of the XXIV International Festival of Cinematic Debuts "Spirit of Fire". For more than 20 years, it has remained an important platform for supporting young authors. This year, 630 applications from 39 countries were submitted for participation in the review, which confirms its relevance in the professional community. The central theme of the festival in 2026 is "Children in the cinema". The image of childhood has always been and remains an essential part of the cultural code. Today, young talents from all over the world offer their own perspective on this issue, shaping the language of the future cinema. There is also a special program dedicated to the unity of the peoples of Russia. After all, cinema can be used to express respect for the diversity of cultures and traditions of our country. I am sure that the Spirit of Fire will once again become a space for creative dialogue, discoveries and new names, as well as strengthen creative ties between states. I wish you all inspiration and vivid impressions."

The first to be presented was the Film-in-the—Works program, a competition for projects that are currently in production. He helps aspiring filmmakers find partners and support to complete their films. Thanks to Gazprom Neft's Hometowns social investment program, the winner in the Film-at-Work category will receive a prize of one million rubles.

The jury of the Film-at-Work program included screenwriter, producer and director Sergey Chliyants (chairman of the jury), director of Gazprom Neft's Hometowns social investment program Yarina Sugakova, producer and visual effects supervisor, founder of CGF Studio Alexander Gorokhov, film critic and producer, former head of the cinema chainMoskino" and the Department of Cinematography of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation Svetlana Maksimchenko, film critic, curator and program director of the "Saint Anna" competition Viktor Prokofiev, as well as the editor-in-chief of the portal ProfiCinema.ru Nina Romodanovskaya, Associate Professor at VGIK.

The program includes the films "Auto Repair" (dir. Ilya Noskov), "Bo-Bo" (dir. Anastasia Kuzina), "Friend" (directed by Marina Kaletskaya), "Another World" (directed by Nikolai Kovalenko), "On the Edge of Childhood" (dir. Vladimir Zakharenko), "Snow is Falling" (dir. Evgenia Gromova), "The Northern Edge" (directed by Maria Mitz), "The Snow Maiden" (directed by Olga Dobromyslova), "The Tickler" (directed by Sergey February).

The next program was "Your Movie". It appeared at the festival in the 2000s as a children's and youth film club, but over time it grew into a full-fledged competition program. It includes international and Russian premieres, and the main prize of the category is the "Small Bronze Taiga". This year's program features five films: "A Hero for Kobus" (South Africa — USA, dir. Joel Soison), "The Boy Who Knew the Mountains" (UAE, dir. Zainab Shahin), "My Taiga Holidays" (Russia, dir. Alexander Lukin), "Seeds" (Colombia — Spain, dir. Eliana Niño) and "I Accidentally wrote a book" (Hungary — Netherlands, dir. Nora Lakosh).

The presenters then moved on to the main program of the festival, the International Film Debut Competition. Eight films participate in it: "Deaf" (Spain, dir. Eva Libertad Garcia Lopez), "Far to the East" (Iran — Austria, dir. Arash Anisi), "The Lull at Dawn" (China, dir. Zhu Xin), "The Radiant Life" (Portugal — France, dir. Juan Rozash), "The Coin" (Italy — Serbia, dir. Emiliano Dante), "The night is coming to an end" (Argentina, dir. Ezequiel Salinas and Ramiro Sonsini), "Songs of the Moon King" (Russia, dir. Natalia Lapshina) and "The Shape of Momo" (India — Republic of Korea, dir. Tribeni Paradise). This year, the winners will receive the prize of the festival's communication partner, the Roscongress Foundation, "The Soul of Russia. World Cinema" for the preservation of traditional spiritual values in the world, as well as three main awards: "Bronze Taiga" and "Silver Taiga" for the best debut films of the international program and "Golden Taiga" — the main prize of the International Festival of Cinematic Openings "Spirit of Fire". The jury consisted of Chinese screenwriter Lu Wei (chairman of the jury), whose work was nominated for an Oscar and won the Palme d'Or in Cannes; actress, director and public figure Ndamo Damaris; festival organizer, film critic and writer Jaime Christian Noguera Martin; Serbian screenwriter, director and producer Goran Radovanovic, as well as producer, winner of numerous awards in the field of media business Juliana Slasheva.

The following awards are awarded in the category of the Russian Debuts festival: Pavel Lebeshev Prize for the Best Cinematography, Silver Rose Prize for the best work with music, Alexander Abdulov prizes for the best male and best female roles, audience award "Flowers of Taiga Hope", Gazprom Neft special prize"For the preservation of cultural traditions", as well as the main award of the category — "Golden Taiga" named after Sergei Solovyov for the best domestic film debut. The Russian Debuts competition program includes six films: "In the Mountains. He" (dir. Said Tolgurov), "The Greatness of Absence" (dir. Sofia Fedorova and Nikita Dobrynin), "Eclipse" (dir. Igor Kagramanov), "The Cosmos is falling asleep" (dir. Anton Mamykin), "Mari Tales" (directed by Denis Shabliy) and "Eigengrau" (directed by Murad Beglyarov). The jury of the Russian Debuts competition includes: chairman of the jury — director Andrey Proshkin, musician, composer, author and performer of songs Evgeny Margulis, cinematographer, winner of international film festivals Maria Solovyova, theater and film actress Alexandra Ursulyak and theater, film and television actor Leonid Yarmolnik.

In addition, the presenters presented a special program "It's a pity that you weren't with us", dedicated to strong debut works that have already been celebrated at other festivals. This year it includes "Instinct" (dir. Philip Ustinov), "Pictures of friendly relations" (dir. Sonya Raisman), "The Adventures of a Real Samurai in the World of Disasters" (directed by Dmitry Vorobyov and Lida Kanashova) and "Fireworks in the Afternoon" (directed by Nina Volova).

Business and educational programs are also held within the framework of the festival, where directors, producers, screenwriters, film critics and other industry representatives discuss topical issues of film development, share their professional experience and participate in open discussions, master classes and meetings.

The program of the festival also includes the "Debut — Short Meter" competition. This year, 18 feature short films are participating in it. Two awards are awarded in the competition: the "Small Silver Taiga" prize for the second place and the main prize of the "Small Golden Taiga" category. The jury of the Short Meter Debut competition included director and screenwriter, Nika Award winner Zaka Abdrakhmanova, film critic, editor and producer Andrei Apostolov, as well as theater and film actress Sofya Lebedeva.

18 films participate in the "Debut — short Meter" competition: Ukko (directed by Arina Mado), "Varvara the Saint" (directed by Polina Kapantina), "Like in an old fairy tale" (dir. Nikita Lychev), "The Cradle" (dir. Anton Veretennikov), "Milk Girl" (dir. Olga Dobromyslova), "Our Year" (dir. Nikolay Kovalenko), "The Nurse" (dir. Anna Aun), "Omnivore" (dir. Daria Garonika), "Song for a young voice" (dir. Maya Giter), "The Last One" (directed by Sofia Kosazhevskaya), "The Bird" (directed by Anastasia Romanyuk), "Emptiness" (directed by Elena Zavodnova), "Empty Places" (directed by Alexey Chamin), "SZHDP" (directed by Vlad Shkurenko), "Nina's Dreams" (dir. Diana Belova), "Vulnerability" (dir. Ekaterina Chopenko), "Happy Ending" (dir. Tasya Lapshina) and "Julia for Vitya" (dir. Makar Khlebnikov).

At the end of the ceremony, the song "Beautiful Far away" from the TV movie "Guest from the Future" was performed. The composition was performed by Artem Volchkov, a student of the Sveshnikov Choral College. The Smoloy Dance Theater and the Academy of Dance Theater of Modern Choreography also took part in the performance. Pierre Richard's film "The Man who Saw the Bear, Who Saw the Man" opened the festival. Pierre Richard acted in the film as a director, screenwriter and performer of the main role. The film's executive producers are Ivan Samokhvalov and Gavriil Gordeev.