Keeping audiences in mind while advancing the craft—from 20 to 23 October 2025, the Festival will host its Industry Programme for the third time. Organised by the 35th Message to Man International Film Festival team, with financial support from the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives and organisational support from the Strana.DOC club, the programme includes pitching sessions, discussions, and roundtables on key topics in the development of the Russian film industry.
A dedicated day will focus on experimental cinema, with winners of the Experimental Film Project Contest receiving financial support and feedback from both audiences and expert communities.
The Festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives, and the St. Petersburg Committee for Culture.
EXPERIMENTAL CINEMA DAY
On 21 October, the Industry Programme of the 35th Message to Man International Film Festival will open with Experimental Cinema Day at the Media Centre of the Alexandrinsky Theatre’s New Stage. The day’s events aim to spotlight experimental cinema as a vital instrument for advancing contemporary cinematic language. The centerpiece will be the Experimental Film Project Contest, supported by the KINORA Fund and the Luch film collective, with a prize fund of 300,000 roubles provided by KINORA.
Event schedule:
- 12:00 — Experimental Film Project Contest (curated by Alexander Podbornov, Tikhon Pendyurin, Mikhail Zheleznikov)
- 16:30 — Presentation of educational and public outreach initiatives in experimental cinema
- 19:00 — Public talk: “The Place of Experimental Cinema in the Russian Film Industry and the Contemporary Art Market,” featuring media artists, directors, producers, and curators of experimental film programmes at festivals.
Contest jury:
- Alexander Podbornov, producer, curator of educational programmes and special projects at the KINORA Fund, creative producer at the Piligrim online platform, former selector for the New Holland International Debut Film Festival, published in Seance, Cinema Routine, ma, and Cineticle
- Evgeny Maizel, film scholar, critic, writer, and editor of Kinema magazine; member of FIPRESCI and the Expert Council of the Russian Guild of Film Critics; published in Iskusstvo Kino, Seance, Kinema, and other outlets
- Olga Davydova, cinema and photography researcher, lecturer at ITMO University and the St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television, author of The Evolution of Non-Fiction Cinema, or How to Watch Documentaries
- Dasha Chernova, curator of the film programme at Dom Radio, lecturer, author, and editor of the film samizdat K!
- Ira Dmitrieva, film scholar, PhD candidate at the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK), journalist, contributor to Seance magazine and media, curator of film screenings, and researcher of experimental and parallel cinema; co-curator of the Vnutri Festival of Amateur and Experimental Film and curator at the Noyabr Cinema
- Maria Dantsis, artist; senior lecturer and curator of the Video Art programme at the HSE Art and Design School International
- Andrey Vasilenko, curator and film critic; studied architecture and philosophy at Far Eastern Federal University; curator of programmes at the Pacific Meridian International Film Festival (2008–2020) and curator at the V–A–C Foundation and GES-2 since 2019
- Gleb Piryatinsky, director, producer, co-founder of the Moscow independent studio Mal de Mer Films and the Cycle analogue laboratory, actor
- Renata Dzhalo, director, cinematographer, screenwriter, actress
Contest participants:
- (De-)Museification of Memory (dir. Alexey Pryakhin)
- Apoptosis (dir. Gevorg Galstyan)
- Invasion (dir. Anton Butakov)
- Stones (dir. Natalia Budkina)
- Microcosm-Macrocosm (dir. Maria Kulak)
- Songs of the Moon King (dir. Nastasya Lapshina)
- Space with Four Dimensions (dir. Dmitry Zhukov)
- Dog’s Dream (dir. Fedor Levitin)
- Development (dir. Misha Ketov)
- Shadows Under the Mountain (dir. Elizaveta Zharikova)
- The Third Island (dir. Nikita Spiridonov)
- Drowning in Your Wound (dir. Artem Terentyev)
- Parajanov’s Coat Travels to Its Homeland: to Iran (dir. Yana Osman, Anton Khamchishkin)
- ne’femini’ne (dir. Raya Shmatova, Milana Shirshikova)
- Deja/Jamais Vu (dir. Anastasia Kozhevnikova)
- This Is a Pen (dir. Zoya Melikhova)
PRESENTATION OF NEW DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS FROM RUSSIAN STREAMING PLATFORMS
On 22 October at 12:00, the Media Centre of the Alexandrinsky Theatre’s New Stage will host a screening of the latest documentary projects from leading Russian streaming platforms. The curator is film critic, columnist, producer, and programme director of Original+ and Original+Doc—festivals of fiction and documentary content on streaming platforms, Susanna Alperina.
Presentation participants:
- In the Circle of Good (2025 / Russia / 25 min.; dir. Kirill Verkhozin)
- He Is a Dolphin (2025 / Russia / 40 min.; dir. Igor Chernyshev)
- Women of Culture (2025 / Russia / 20 min.; dir. Milana Koroleva)
- Russian Milan (2025 / Russia / 29 min.; dir. Ksenia Kazazaeva, Andrey Ananin)
- Kharama (2025 / Russia / 25 min.; dir. Dmitry Davydov)
- Priest’s Daughter (2025 / Russia / 15 min.; dir. Valentin Rudakov)
A roundtable discussion titled “Documentary Projects from Russian Streaming Platforms: Range, Development, and Prospects” is set to take place at 17:30.
PITCHING OF DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS: MESSAGE TO TOMORROW 2.0
On 22 October at 11:00 at New Holland Island, the Message to Tomorrow 2.0 pitching session for non-fiction film projects at various stages of production is set to take place. Supported by the Strana.DOC club and curated by Konstantin Nafikov and Maria Gotlib, the pitching offers a prize fund of 1 million roubles. The session will be moderated by Andrey Apostolov, programme director of the Window to Europe film festival and Gorky Fest, and lecturer at the Moscow School of Social and Economic Sciences (Shaninka), the Moscow International University, and the Industry film school.
Pitching session jury:
- Kirill Ashumov, producer of documentary projects and creative producer at Wink
- Tatyana Matveeva, editor-in-chief of the Autonomous Non-Profit Organization Institute of Internet Development
- Alexey Ryazantsev, general director of Karo Premier Film Company LLC
- Ekaterina Vulfovich, creative producer of documentary content for the Premier streaming platform and Rutube national video hosting service
- Olga Filonova, lead producer of the ‘Russia: A Vision for the Future’ contest, general director of the Production Centre for the Regional Cinema Support Fund (FPRK)
- Vladimir Todorov, documentary project producer at Okko
- Alexey Telnov, general director of the St. Petersburg Documentary Film Studio (Lendok)
- Anna Ganshina, documentary filmmaker, lecturer, member of the Russian Filmmakers’ Union, and associate professor at the St. Petersburg State University of Film and Television
- Anastasia Neverova, head of VK Grants at the Department for Influencer Relations and Media Strategy
- Sergey Debizhev, director and general director of Dva Kapitana studio
- Ivan Bolotnikov, director and producer at Avtor film studio
Pitching session participants:
- 29th Element (drama, 52 min.; dir. Maria Vasenina)
- Avant-Garde Chagoda (architectural documentary, 52 min.; dir. Alexey Pryakhin)
- Aquanaut (sports drama, 52 min.; dir. Andrey Soustin)
- Inner Sea (dramedy, 52 min.; dir. Konstantin Narykov)
- Natural Reserve (tragicomedy, 60 min.; dir. Tatyana Limanova)
- Hello, Oars (documentary, 52 min.; dir. Fedor Selkin)
- La Siberia: Coffee, Dreams, and a Bit of Chaos (comedy, 90 min.; dir. Nikolay Bem)
- Windows (documentary comedy, 52 min.; dir. Alexandra Lusnikova, Alexander Avilov)
- As Long as We’re Together (ethnographic cinema, 52 min.; dir. Mikhail Kartavtsev)
- Against the Plague (popular science, social drama, 90 min.; dir. Elena Turintseva)
- Soundtracks of Love (musical documentary series, 5 episodes, 30 min. each; dir. Petr Keleptrishvili)
- Holy Dementia (observational film, 60 min.; dir. Kristina Khegay)
- Sedanka Blues (documentary, 60 min.; dir. Svetlana Stasenko, Liza Antonova)
- Sport in Flames (sports drama, war, 4 episodes, 60 min. each; dir. Alexey Sukhachev, Vusal Omarov)
- Old House (thriller, drama, 6 episodes, 25 min. each; dir. Lyubov Korlykhanova)
- French Ivanovs (documentary, 60 min.; dir. Natalia Yukhnevich, creative pseudonym Natalia Yu)
- 16 (portrait film, 60 min.; dir. Angelica Kozlova)
A public talk titled “Is It Time for AI to Replace Newsreels and Talking Heads?” will be held at 15:00 at New Holland.
PROJECT FOR TOMORROW DOCUMENTARY FILM LAB
On 23 October at 14:00, the Mayakovsky Library on Fontanka will host the closing of the Project for Tomorrow Non-Fiction Projects Lab, aimed at supporting the development of documentary and hybrid projects with co-production potential. The Lab is curated by Svetlana Strelnikova and Maria Gavrilova.
Lab participants:
- Buenas Dias, Mama (documentary, 75 min.; dir. Natalia Rebrova, Yakov Yurovitsky)
- Fly, My Bird (documentary, 55 min.; dir. Elena Vakhnick)
- Maryino Field (drama, 75 min.; dir. Nikita Asaul)
- Marked Wings (family film, 52 and 80 min.; dir. Tamara Pronina)
- To Good Hands (drama, 52 min.; dir. Oksana Bronevitskaya, Asya Kopichnikova)
- Hunter (drama, 80 min.; dir. Ekaterina Vorobyeva)
- Panchakarma (observational documentary, 52 min.; dir. Mikhail Plisko)
- From Bottom to Top (documentary, 60 min.; dir. Alexandra Konopleva)
- Teresa (docudrama, 90 min.; dir. Nikita Kasyanenko)
- Faraway Tsardom (docufiction, 90 min.; dir. Marianna Rybynok)
The Lab closing session will be preceded by a public talk titled “New Realities of Creative Documentary: Where to Find Funding? Where to Screen? How to Reach Audiences?” at the same venue at 12:00.