Moscow, Russia / founded in 1935
Held in June
The MIFF, one of the oldest film festivals in the world, takes place annually at the end of June. The Main Competition of the festival, where the Main Prize, the Special Jury Prize and the prizes for the best director and performance are awarded, is famous for the fact that its pictures by lesser known directors from lesser known cinemas can baffle even seasoned critics. Organizers admit that it is useless to compete with more reputable European festivals in representativeness of the contest, and suggest to consider search for new talents as one of the main aims of MIFF. The former program of debut, exploratory and experimental works “Perspectives”, however, was replaced by a short film competition in 2013; the MIFF has recently returned to the documentary film competition as well.
Contest screenings are complemented by retrospectives, current international cinema previously seen at other Class A festivals, and the brilliant “Free Thought” program of documentaries. Since recently, the MIFF also organizes a business platform Moscow Business Square, in which more than 500 film industry professionals from different countries were expected to participate in 2014.