Devoted to Orpheus: "Dear Willy" became the winner of TEFI-2026

The TEFI 2026 National Television Award ceremony has ended in Moscow. On June 9, film industry experts selected the best series and noted their creators. Among the winners is the REN TV spy detective "Dear Willy" starring Sergei Makovetsky as Leonid Brezhnev. The award was posthumously awarded to Igor Zolotovitsky, former rector of the Moscow Art Theater Studio School, for his role as the gypsy baron in Shakespeare Street. For more information about the ceremony and the winners, see the Izvestia article.

"Dear Willie" took the TEFI

For the television industry, TEFI remains a professional quality mark. The award recognizes the best projects, reporting, documentaries and entertainment shows, and its symbol — the bronze Orpheus by sculptor Ernst Neizvestny — is recognized on television without unnecessary explanations. On June 8, the jury named the best in information and socio-political broadcasting, as well as in the entertainment segment. The next day, the Series category took over the baton.

The winners were chosen not by algorithms, but by people who, from personal experience, know the value of every shooting shift, every frame, and every creative stroke of luck. This year's ceremony has new rules — no meetings behind closed doors and sealed envelopes. The decision was made by real-time voting.

The leader in the number of nominations was the REN TV historical spy detective "Dear Willy". Even before the premiere, in June last year, Sergey Marin brought the first award to the series: he played a former KGB officer Vyacheslav Vardanov and became the best actor according to the jury of the Pilot Film Festival competition.

A shot from the TV series "Dear Willie"

Photo: TV Format

Now "Dear Willie" has added Orpheus TEFI to his collection. Vladimir Shchegolkov's directorial work continued the scoring of his victories in the "TV movie or mini-series (up to 4 episodes)" category.

— Cinema is a mystery. It either adds up or it doesn't. It worked out for us. Apparently, we guessed right at every step and went right. As my master Vadim Abdrashitov used to say, "Do your best. And if God helps, you'll have a good movie," the director told Izvestia.

The plot is based on real events: a secret agreement between Soviet Secretary General Leonid Brezhnev and German Chancellor Willy Brandt, thanks to which a nuclear catastrophe was avoided during the Cold War. In the early 1960s, intelligence became aware of NATO's plans to strike at the USSR from military bases in European countries, including Germany. The heroes of history risked everything and chose the path of diplomacy.

— "Dear Willie" was made according to all the rules of a big movie. This project has a great cast. Of course, Sergei Makovetsky has an amazing role, because playing Brezhnev, giving this image a new lease of life, making him really the person he was in the first half of the 1970s, is a difficult task. Makovetsky did it very accurately and vividly. Leonid Ilyich ceased to be a caricature character, which he often was in the minds of the audience. Makovetsky showed a lively, strong man, ready for unexpected decisions and brave deeds," Anatoly Tupitsyn, Deputy General Director of the REN TV channel and producer of the Dear Willy series, said in an interview with Izvestia.

Interestingly, the prototype of another of the key characters who had to establish a dialogue between the two leaders in secrecy was journalist Valery Lednev— a political commentator for Izvestia. Alexey Rozin embodied him on the screen.

Who else became the winner of TEFI-2026

In the Historical Series category, Andrei Konchalovsky's drama "Chronicles of the Russian Revolution" won. She also won Orpheev for Andrey Naydenov's cinematography and in the Series Producer category. The winner of the TEFI drama series was "Love of the Soviet Union", directed by Nikita Vysotsky, Dmitry Iosifov and Ilya Lebedev.

Even before the award, many of the projects were highly appreciated by the audience and therefore were included in the top hundred of the Russian rating of the TV series of the Media Academy for 2025.

Among the winners of TEFI-2026 are "The First Department" ("Detective series"), "Sklifosovsky" ("Melodramatic series"), "Overheard in Rybinsk" ("Comedy series", "Producer of the series", "Director of the series" — Peter Todorovsky), "Old School" ("Best actress of the series" — Maria Aronova).

In the "Best Actor in a TV Series" nomination, the majority of the jury members voted for Igor Zolotovitsky, who died in January of this year. He played the gypsy baron Chervonya in Shakespeare Street. The series was directed by his student, young director Danil Chashchin.

— Igor Yakovlevich helped me a lot when I staged my first performances. But as an artist, I only managed to work with him in the movies. "Shakespeare Street" is our first and, unfortunately, our last work. I didn't have any other candidates for the role of Cervoni. There are artists who fill the space with themselves — there was both intelligence and humor in it. For him, this is not the first role of a gypsy, and he joked: "I should be given the honorary title of Honored Gypsy of Russia." And after filming, we went to a restaurant and discussed the Stanislavsky system. After all, he was the personification of the Moscow Art Theater studio school," director Danil Chashchin told Izvestia.

The guests of the ceremony honored the memory of Igor Zolotovitsky with prolonged applause.

Alexey Guskov received a TEFI for his supporting role in the historical drama Atom. He played Vsevolod Zamyatin, Lavrenty Beria's deputy and the curator of the atomic project. Olga Sutulova received a similar award among the actresses for the same series.

Today, TEFI participants are still colleagues, not rivals. Professional recognition has become a common victory, and the viewer ultimately benefits from the quality of their work.