Only a few days remain until the start of the 34th Message to Man International Film Festival. In addition to an exceptionally packed schedule of film screenings that features 77 competition films and over 130 films in special sections, the Festival will also host Industry Programme events on October 22 and 23.
This year’s Industry Programme consists of two main sections:
● The Message to Tomorrow documentary project pitching, held for the first time in the Festival’s history, in collaboration with Strana.DOC. Curator: Konstantin Nafikov.
● The programme Prospects for Russian Documentary Films and Series on Streaming Platforms, featuring high-profile premieres from major streaming services. Curator: Susanna Alperina
The Festival is held with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, and the Committee for Culture of St. Petersburg. The Industry Programme is held with the financial support of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.
A modern, leading film festival is evolving into a highly sought-after platform for professional dialogue, practical solutions, and systemic insights into the contemporary film industry, as well as prospects for its future growth and development. In 2024, as part of the 34th Message to Man IFF, an expansive Industry Programme will be presented, catering to seasoned professionals, emerging filmmakers, media representatives, and audiences alike.
DOCUMENTARY PROJECTS PITCHING MESSAGE TO TOMORROW
For the first time in its history, the Festival will hold a pitching session for documentary projects, organized into three sections:
• Pitching of projects at the stage of development or production
Participants:
- Focus (directed by Nikita Aksenov)
- People, Spirits and Gods (directed by Evgeniya Leushkina)
- Shining of the Wind (directed by Yulia Makarova)
- The Resettled (directed by Yulia Korneva)
- Women of Steel, or How to Remain an Angel and Not Turn into a Monster (directed by Daria Razumnikova, Leonid Rybakov)
- The Finiko Case (directed by Ilya Sovetov)
- Soundscape: Season 2 (directed by Genrikh Ignatov)
- Seminary (directed by Arseny Kaidatsky)
- Rules of Love (directed by Andrey Ananin)
- Into Adulthood (directed by Alexandra Romanova-Shevskaya)
• Pitching of projects at the post-production stage
Participants:
- Surfers 60+ (directed by Anastasia Emelyanova)
- Lesson in Aristocracy (directed by Sergey Kachkin)
- Demidova’s Method (directed by Nikita Dobrynin)
- Beginner Status (directed by Alexander Androsov)
- Instinct (directed by Philipp Ustinov)
- While the River Flows (directed by Maria Krasnoperova)
- Leniniana (directed by Alexey Khanyutin)
- Fetching Light, Camera, and Bolt Cutters (directed by Hripsime Grigoryan)
- What I’m Doing Here (directed by Maria Sedyaeva, Sabrina Karabaeva)
• Pitching of student and debut projects New Wave.
Participants:
- Little Ones (directed by Andrey Luft)
- Everything We Didn’t Ask About (directed by Diana Grigorieva)
- Birthday (directed by Nastya Demeshko)
- I Want to Forget (directed by Vladislav Zaitsev)
- Pale Wind (directed by Anna Dahlinger, Stanislav Fomichev, Ulyana Guzun, Sofia Katala, Milana Dementyeva, Anastasia Tutynina, Fyodor Levitin, Tatyana Yaneeva and Ivan Loskutnikov, Gevorg Galstyan, Alexander Tikhomirov, Taisiya Brundukova)
- Simple Poets (directed by Igor Davydov)
- Mama (directed by Elizaveta Bobyleva)
- Insolation (directed by Alena Nikulina)
Participants will have the opportunity to present their projects to film industry experts, with winners receiving cash prizes of up to 600,000 rubles.
Pitching jury:
- Ella Tukhareli, Director, General Producer, Regional Cinema Support Fund (FPRK);
- Vladimir Todorov, Producer of non-fiction content, Okko;
- Ekaterina Vulfovich, Creative Producer of non-fiction section, PREMIER;
- Alexey Ryazantsev, General Director, Karo-Premier;
- Angelina Ashman, Head of non-scripted content, KION;
- Dmitry Yakunin, General Director, Moviestart Production center;
- Alexey Telnov, General Director, Lendoc Open Film Studio;
- Olga Agrafenina, Producer, Head of PR, Lenfilm Studio;
- Ivan Bolotnikov, Producer, General Director, Avtor studio.
In addition, the pitching will feature three panel discussions: “Documentary film: Why are audiences and distributors still put off by the term?”; “New opportunities for distributing documentary films”; “Education in documentary filmmaking”.
Message to Tomorrow is a collaboration with Strana.DOC, an association of professionals in Russia’s non-fiction film industry.
“I hope that expanding the business programme at Message to Man will create a universal platform for communication and the exchange of experiences among all members of the non-fiction film professional community. The need for such a platform has been growing in the industry for several years,” says pitching curator and founder of Strana.DOC, Konstantin Nafikov.
PROSPECTS FOR RUSSIAN DOCUMENTARY FILMS AND SERIES ON STREAMING PLATFORMS
For the second time, Message to Man will host premiere presentations of documentary series from leading streaming platforms, including Okko, Wink, Start, KION, and PREMIER.
“Last year, we observed this phenomenon in its early stages: Russian streaming platforms were only starting to produce original non-fiction films and series. Now, there are many more of them, the scope for selection has expanded, and this year we decided to capture entire trends,” says programme curator Susanna Alperina.
This part of the Industry Programme will also include a roundtable “Documentary Films and Series on Streaming Platforms as a Special Genre in Non-Fiction Cinema,” with the heads of Russian streaming platforms and the creators of projects featured at the Festival.
Details about the section participants, schedule, and guest list will be available in the Industry Programme catalogue, released for the Festival.
SCHEDULE OF THE MESSAGES TO MAN’S BUSINESS PROGRAMME
October 22
12:00–14:30 | Lendoc
Message to Tomorrow. Pitching of auteur films in the development stage.
12:00–16:30 | Alexandrinsky Theatre’s New Stage
Prospects for Russian Documentary Films and Series on Streaming Platforms. Screenings
Curator: Susanna Alperina
“This section of the Industry Programme consists of premiere screenings of films and series from streaming platforms, each helping to reflect on trends characteristic of modern streaming. PREMIER’s series Outflow explores the philosophy of travel, one of the main themes on streaming platforms in recent years. The documentary project by Start, The Last Bogatyr: Legacy. How the Wonder-Series Was Made, captures the popular genre of ’film-about-a-film’ on streaming platforms. Another project worthy of a special mention, KION’s Happens to Everyone, dedicated to people with mental health differences; this part of the Industry Programme will feature a screening of Episode 3, focusing on people with bipolar disorder. Okko’s series Hooked: When a Scammer Calls emphasizes the trend of online streaming platforms to create socially critical narratives, while the project Hit by Wink reflects a trend in modern television: releasing a documentary about the era represented in a series or film alongside it,” says Susanna Alperina.
15:30–17:00 | Lendoc
Message to Tomorrow. Panel discussion “New opportunities for distributing documentary films”
Speakers:
- Ekaterina Vulfovich, Creative Producer of non-fiction section, PREMIER;
- Alexey Ryazantsev, General Director, Karo-Premier;
- Angelina Ashman, Head of non-scripted content, KION;
- Yulia Bocharova, Actress, documentary filmmaker;
- Ekaterina Yakovleva, Head of the documentary broadcasting department, RT;
- Maria Gotlib, Programmer of international film festivals;
- Dmitry Yakunin, General Director, Moviestart Production center.
Moderator:
- Konstantin Nafikov, Founder of Strana.DOC.
17:00–18:30 | Alexandrinsky Theatre’s New Stage
Prospects for Russian Documentary Films and Series on Streaming Platforms. Roundtable “Documentary Films and Series on Streaming Platforms as a Special Genre in Non-Fiction Cinema”
Speakers:
- Ekaterina Vulfovich, Creative Producer of non-fiction section, PREMIER;
- Angelina Ashman, Head of non-scripted content, KION;
- Vladimir Todorov, Producer of non-fiction content, Okko;
- Alexey Bokov, Producer of original documentary projects, Start;
- Zakhar Chavkin, Head of the original content department, Producer, Wink;
- Kirill Ashumov, Producer of the original content department, Wink;
- Maria Katsal, Producer, Happens to Everyone (KION);
- Dmitry Kraynov, Producer, Happens to Everyone (KION);
- Tatyana Matveeva, Editor-in-chief, Internet Development Institute (IRI).
Moderator:
- Susanna Alperina, Film critic, Producer, Director of Programming for Original+ Festival.
October 23
11:30–13:30 | Lendoc
Message to Tomorrow. Pitching of projects at the post-production stage
14:00–15:00 | Lendoc
Message to Tomorrow. Panel discussion “Education in documentary filmmaking”
Speakers:
- Ella Tukhareli, Director, General Producer, Regional Cinema Support Fund (FPRK);
- Maria Krasnoperova, Curator, Teacher of the Film and TV Production course, College of Creative Industries (Krasnoyarsk);
- Alexey Khanyutin, Director, Head of the film and television directing department, Moder Art Institute (ISI);
- Maria Gavrilova, Teacher of the New Doc course, Moscow Film School;
- Andrey Apostolov, Film scholar, Editor, Creative Producer, Teacher and curator at film schools;
- Tatyana Soboleva, Director, Curator of film laboratories;
- Maria Serpionova, Creative Producer, KION.
Moderator:
- Larisa Malyukova, Film critic, Screenwriter.
15:30–17:00 | Lendoc
Message to Tomorrow. Pitching of student and debut projects New Wave
17:30-19:00 | Lendoc
Message to Tomorrow. Panel discussion “Documentary film: Why are audiences and distributors still put off by the term?”
Speakers:
- Ella Tukhareli, Director, General Producer, Regional Cinema Support Fund (FPRK);
- Angelina Ashman, Head of non-scripted content, KION;
- Vladimir Todorov, Producer of non-fiction content, Okko;
- Alexey Fedorko, Development Director, NMG DOC;
- Tatyana Soboleva, Director, Doker Film Festival.
Moderator:
- Maria Gotlib, Programmer of international film festivals;
