"Zimniy" announces the participants in the auteur film market and the business program.

      The 4th Open Russian Festival of Auteur Cinema “Winter”, which will take place in Moscow from December 1 to 7, 2025, announces the participants of the Winter Film Market and the festival’s business program.

      The program of the Winter Film Market of auteur cinema, which will be held on December 4, includes 11 films at various stages of production.

      Among them are the social drama “The New House” by director Nikita Grushin about the reintegration of a former prisoner into society; “The Second Tanya” by Alisa Yerokhina about a beginning actress who is learning the monologue of her namesake who survived the Siege of Leningrad; the slow-burner “Dark Thoughts” by Vlad Malakhov about an attempt to flee creditors and an encounter with real evil; the documentary-fiction drama “The Smartest Street in the World” by Ivan Vdovin about Novosibirsk’s Akademgorodok; the psychological thriller “Sovok” by Diana Kadi about participation in a deadly game; the female road movie “Without Looking Back” by Natalia Konchalovskaya about two heroines who do not wait to be saved but save each other; the detective drama “Fashion House” by Valery Pereverzev about passions and unexpected events in a capital fashion house; the touching story about a teenage girl with a hemangioma “Bo-bo” by director Anastasia Kuzina; the second part of the trilogy about a mysterious partisan “The Red Ghost. 1812” by Andrey Bogatyryov; the drama “Mon” by Sofya Chigirova about a young pianist who returns from abroad to her sick grandmother; and the musical film “Music Lessons” by Dmitry Iosifov about rivalry, talent and the search for oneself.

      The festival’s business program will address key issues of the contemporary film industry. Its main goal is to remain open and accessible, allowing participants to become part of the professional community and see the industry from the inside. All events in the program will take place at the Khudozhestvenny cinema and will be free to attend with prior registration. The program will open on December 2 with a round table on “Invisible Heroes of Film Production,” dedicated to specialists whose work remains behind the scenes: assistant directors, film editors, costume and makeup artists, casting directors, sound engineers and production designers. The session will be moderated by producer Galina Strizhevskaya.

      On December 3 there will be a separate block dedicated to authors’ rights, and the creation and protection of ideas. Screenwriters and producers Alexander Andryushchenko, Karina Chuvikova and Mikhail Kitaev, together with lawyers, will discuss not only legal risks but also the very process of creating a story: how an idea is born, how it turns into a screenplay, what trials the author faces at each stage, and what happens to an idea when it reaches the set. On the same day the screenwriter support program “AUTHOR” will be presented, outlining participation rules, project development stages, educational opportunities and screenplays already being launched.

      On December 4 there will be a session “Heat at Winter,” including the “Film Battle of Interests: Actors vs Agents vs Producers.” In an open-discussion format, actors will discuss backstage industry conflicts with agents, casting directors and producers, the balance of interests and principles of constructive interaction on set.

      On December 5 two summary sessions will take place. “Festival Life of Russian Cinema in 2025,” where representatives of Russian film festivals will review the year, discuss interaction with state structures and new formats, and present their festivals. This will be followed by a discussion “Problems and Prospects of Russia’s Art Film Market,” devoted to the distribution of auteur cinema, the influence of festivals, promotional tools and the search for effective promotion models.

      Speakers in the business program will include Anna Yarina, Director of the Department of Cinematography and Digital Development of the Ministry of Culture of Russia; producer, director and artistic director of Film Studio Rok Alexey Uchitel; producer, director and screenwriter Alexander Andryushchenko; director and screenwriter Karina Chuvikova; producer and head of original content production at Kinopoisk Mikhail Kitaev; general producer of the Okko video service Gavriil Gordeev; director Anton Maslov; lead producer at Kinopoisk Darya Kaplya; festival producer Anton Kalinkin (Koroche, Chitka, Pilot); actress Yulia Khlynina; and others.

      Lidiya Drobysh, curator of the business program:

      “For me, the business program is a place where cinema becomes closer. Here you can ask questions, argue, get honest answers and in one day gather the baggage of knowledge and contacts that in the profession takes years. It is important to attract not only well-known speakers but also new names — to hear fresh opinions and understand what cinema lives by today. Together with the moderators we shape the conversation so that each meeting turns into a lively, engaging dialogue, and an hour and a half flies by unnoticed.”

      Andrey Apostolov, curator of the Winter Film Market of auteur cinema:

      “The day after the film market we will seat its participants in the hall — producers and directors of festival cinema — and invite to the stage those who evaluated them — producers from major companies and platforms, festival curators, critics and distributors. I did not accidentally put the word ‘art-film market’ in the title of the discussion; I value the parallel with the art market, where the artistic quality of a work does not conflict with its ‘sellability.’ We will give the floor to those who can share valuable life hacks on how to turn cinematic phenomena into products and goods, however much those categories may sometimes chafe the authors themselves.”

      Maxim Korolev, general producer of the festival:

      “This year we consciously expanded the scope of the business program and made it as practical as possible. It is important to us that it be useful not only to professionals already working in the industry but also to those who are only considering a path in cinema. We are targeting a wide range of participants — not only members of the film community but also schoolchildren and students. The program will allow a deeper understanding of the industry’s structure, the spectrum of professions and the real mechanisms for entering the industry. We sought to create a space where one can obtain practical knowledge, ask specialists questions and form a more informed idea of how modern cinema functions. As a result, we have produced a comprehensive, substantive and truly practice-oriented program.”

      The Open Russian Festival of Auteur Cinema “Winter” is held with the aim of raising the prestige of national cinematography, promoting auteur cinema, summing up the film season and assisting the development of the film distribution system in Russia. The festival’s program director is Natalya Mokritskaya. The festival’s general producer is Maxim Korolev.

      The founders, as in previous years, are Kinocompany Alliance and the Russian Cultural Foundation. The film festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

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

      According to the festival directorate, in 2024 “Winter” was attended by more than 11,000 viewers over all days. Last year’s main award went to the film “Operation ‘Cold’.” The film’s director Danil Ivanov was recognized as best director, and Anton Kuznetsov as best actor.

      Official website of the festival: www.zimnyfest.ru

      VKontakte: vk.com/zimnyfest

      Telegram channel: t.me/zimnyfest