Message To Man (35)

Festival start: 17 October 2025      Festival end: 25 October 2025

The 35th Message to Man International Festival of documentary, short fiction, animated, and experimental films will take place from 17 to 25 October 2025 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Over the years, the Festival has hosted distinguished figures of world cinema, including Werner Herzog, Ulrich Seidl, Claude Lanzmann, Isabelle Huppert, Fanny Ardant, Agnès Varda, Mira Nair, Paolo Sorrentino, Alan Berliner, Eric Roberts, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Abdellatif Kechiche, Udo Kier, and many others.

With its history spanning three decades of cinema development, Message to Man was founded in 1989 in Leningrad by filmmaker Mikhail Litvyakov, who now serves as the Honorary President of the Festival.

In 2010, Alexei Uchitel, a renowned director of documentaries and feature films, assumed the role of the Festival's President.

The Festival programme revolves around three competitions: international, national, and experimental, providing a platform for both full-length and short films to vie for the Festival's Grand Prix. Message to Man consistently draws thousands of cinema enthusiasts to St. Petersburg each year.

Cash Prizes: 9,000€

In 2025, the winners of the 33rd Message to Man International Film Festival will be awarded in the following categories:

Golden Centaur Grand Prix with a prize of RUB 250,000 for Best Film: awarded by the international competition jury;

Three special Silver Centaur prizes with a prize of RUB 100,000 each: awarded by the international competition jury;

Special Silver Centaur prize with a prize of RUB 100,000 for Best Documentary Film of the National Competition: awarded by the national competition jury;

Jury’s special Silver Centaur prize with a prize of RUB 50,000 (with explanatory wording for a film in the national competition): awarded by the national competition jury;

Silver Centaur Prize of the Jury in the In Silico experimental film competition with a prize of RUB 100,000 for Best Experimental Film.

Additionally, special prizes and diplomas may be awarded by the Festival’s jury, organizing committee, partners, sponsors, and various public organizations.

• International Competition includes:

- Full-length documentary films (from 40 to 120 minutes)

- Short documentary films (up to 40 minutes)

- Short fiction and animated films (up to 30 minutes)

All films should have been completed after January 1, 2024. english subtitles are required for all films with dialogue unless english is the original language of the film.

• In Silico International Competition of Experimental Films includes:

- Short experimental films (no longer than 20 minutes) in any genre, which are technically suitable for screening in a regular cinema and were completed after January 1, 2024.

English subtitles are required for all films with dialogue unless english is the original language of the film.

• National Competition of Documentary Films includes:

Documentary films up to 120 minutes by Russian directors or co-produced by Russian producers, completed after January 1, 2024.

Submissions are accepted from January 21, 2025 to July 15, 2025 (for films that are to be completed in 2024, rough cuts may be submitted for selection).

No fee is collected for applying to participate in the National Competition.

No fee is collected for applying to participate in the In Silico Experimental competition.

Application fee for the International Competition must be paid in the amount of:

20 EUR (or the equivalent in Russian Roubles at the rate of the Central Bank of Russia) for full-length documentary films (40–120 min);

10 EUR (or the equivalent in Russian Roubles at the rate of the Central Bank of Russia) for short live-action films (up to 30 min);

7 EUR (or the equivalent in Russian Roubles at the rate of the Central Bank of Russia) for short documentary films (up to 40 min);

7 EUR (or the equivalent in Russian Roubles at the rate of the Central Bank of Russia) for short animated films (up to 30 min).

Payment is made through the websites of online platforms when applying through those systems. The application is considered incomplete if there is no corresponding payment and, in this case, will not be considered by the selection committee.