Cinema That Unites: Outcomes of the XXI Vladimir Menshov International Film Festival "Won Together"

The XXI Vladimir Menshov International Film Festival "Won Together" has concluded in Moscow and Sochi. The event became part of the Second World Public Assembly "New World: Values That Unite" held in Moscow in September 2026.

The main goal of the festival went far beyond simply screening films: it is a living environment for historical education, support of young talent, and strengthening cultural bridges between countries. As the Project Director Valery Ruzin emphasizes, the festival has become a unique point of attraction:

- Filmmakers exchange experience and business contacts on our platform, while audience gains invaluable viewing experience and discovers new facets of history. Our motto is "Expanding the Space of Victory!" and we believe that it reflects not only our intentions but also the results of many years of work.

The high status of the event was ensured by an authoritative jury, which included leading figures of the film and television industry, and public representatives from Russia and abroad. As a result, the rich program, combining competitive and non-competitive screenings, allowed for the formulation of the most important results of the festival.

The undisputed triumph of the festival was Pavel Pechenkin's film "Deep Rear," which was awarded both the highest Grand Prix of the festival and the special prize "The Happiness of Victory."

- This is a world premiere and a unique work, - said festival president Valery Ruzin from the stage while presenting the main award. - Despite the fact that I have lived a long life and know the history of my country well, the film revealed so much that was new, precise, and interesting to me - astonishing chronicles of the era! This is a work that showed the whole world: such a people cannot be defeated. This is the entire Soviet people, who found themselves and found happiness in Victory!

An innovation of the film festival is the monetary prize "The Happiness of Victory," established by the information partner of the film forum - the media holding "Aggregator of Happiness." The purpose of the award is to recognize the filmmaker who best demonstrated hope, resilience in difficult situations, and faith in the future.

The Award was presented by Marina Volkova, Head of the Department of Happiness of the World Peoples Assembly and the Center for Sociocultural Rehabilitation and Development "Aggregator of Happiness": "Our team faced a difficult task - to choose the film that each of you should see." According to Marina Volkova, Pavel Pechenkin's film struck the entire expert group to the depths of their souls.

She also added that festival cinema will continue to live on after the closing of the festival: the media holding is preparing a special issue of the magazine "Aggregator of Happiness." It will include materials about all participating films, and the publication itself will be distributed both at Russian and international venues.

The film festival program included 110 films from 28 countries. The works were presented in ten thematic blocks, including:

• the "Memory" and "Reflection" segments of the main International Competition of Documentary Films;

• the International Competition of Student Works;

• the national competition of documentary films;

• the program "Voices of Unbroken People";

• the program of films by Valery Timoshchenko;

• non-competitive programs "Cultural Code" and "Studio of Cinematic Art";

• special screenings.

Main awards of the film festival:

• Grand Prix and Special Prize "The Happiness of Victory" - the film "Deep Rear" (director Pavel Pechenkin, Russia);

• Vladimir Menshov Prize - the film "Flower on the Sand" (director Grigory Ilugdin, Russia);

• Prize "For a Bright Example of Unity and Courage" - the film "Crocus. Unbroken" (director Vladimir Khrapovitsky, Russia);

• Audience Choice Award – the film "War Through the Eyes of a Diver" (director Maxim Katushkin, Russia);

• Special Prize and Honorary Diploma for the program of films of 2025–2026 - Valery Timoshchenko (director, recipient of the award "For Outstanding Contribution to Documentary Cinema" (2024), Russia);

• Honorary Diploma - the film "Poets of the Military Circle" (director Vladimir Fatyanov, Russia).

National Competition of Documentary Films:

• Prize for Best Documentary Film named after Igor Shadkhan - "All Beauty Is in a Straight Line" (director Irina Vasilyeva, Russia);

• Prize for Best Film on the Theme of Culture named after Svyatoslav Belza – "The Keepers" (director Ella Tukhareli, Russia);

• Diploma "New Vision" for artistic and creative search - "Chekhov's Sakhalin" (director Ivan Golovnev, Russia);

• Special Jury Mention - "Dickson. Conversations with Silence" (director Veronika Berdina, Russia);

• Diploma for Best Debut – "Three Sisters" (director Lolita Ismailova, Russia).

International Competition "Memory":

• Prize for Best Film named after Vladislav Mikosha - "Diary of a Spy" (director Samuel Leon, Chile);

• Special Jury Diploma - "Messina – Echo of Russian Mercy" (director Dmitry Tikhomirov, Russia);

• Special Jury Diploma - "Shadows of Silence" (directors Darko Sintich, Jure Kreft, Slovenia);

• Special Mention - "Like in a Novel" (director Tayfun Belet, Turkey).

• International Competition "Reflection":

• Prize for Best Film named after Gemma Firsova - "Tatti, Land of Dreamers" (director Ruedi Gerber, Switzerland/Italy);

• Special Jury Diploma - "The Hour Has Come - I Pull a Rickshaw" (director K.M. Taj Biul Hasan, Bangladesh);

• Special Jury Diploma - "Makula" (director Mariana H. Rivera, Mexico);

• Special Jury Diploma - "Lyutye" (director Yannis Kostavaras, Greece).

International Competition of Student Works:

• Main Prize for artistic exploration of the theme of the transience of material memory - "Echo" (director Dan Grabnar, Serbia);

• Special Prize for subtle exploration of the spiritual value and nobility of the work of elderly protagonists - "Milk and Honey" (director Sara Marich, Serbia);

• Special Prize - "Yrka" (director Darya Feshchenko, Russia);

• Diploma for artistic integrity of the film - "The Little Man" (director Maria Vasilyeva, Russia);

• Diploma for the choice of a hero possessing qualities of wonder and eccentricity - "The Tree of Life" (director Aiyana Subanova, Kyrgyzstan);

• Diploma for the embodiment of the poetry of dance - "Block" (director Maya Bitan, Israel);

• Diploma for the original embodiment of the theme of craft as creativity - "Under Repair" (director Beatriz Machado Oliveira, Portugal);

• Diploma for the embodiment of the theme of childhood dreams - "Circus of Happiness" (director Miroslav Blazheski, Russia/Macedonia).

Awards of the Guild of Film Scholars and Film Critics of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation:

Prize "For Creating a Visible Dialogue Between Literary Classics and Modernity" - "Chekhov's Sakhalin" (director Ivan Golovnev, Russia);

Diploma "For Love and Fidelity to National Traditions" - "Three Sisters" (director Lolita Ismailova, Russia);

Diploma "For Creative Search Within the Genre of Industrial Cinema" - "Cucumbers, Potatoes, Bread" (director Ilya Vologurov, Russia).

Festival president Valery Ruzin emphasized that truly outstanding people gathered on the jury, and the participants themselves noted more than once during the festival: the program turned out to be exceptionally strong – in all competitions without exception.

- I want to say separately: this year we received a great many wonderful works dedicated to the special military operation. The theme of Donbass has been heard at our film festival for ten years now, and unfortunately, we could not include all these films in the main competition. Therefore, we set them apart in a separate program - "Voices of Unbroken People". The authors of these films on the theme of the SMO are today receiving honorary diplomas of the festival, - noted Valery Ruzin.

One of the first to be recognized was Olga Pasko's film "Mariupol. Time of Trials". The director expressed warm words of gratitude:

- This joyful news will reach our guys, everyone who is now rebuilding Mariupol - and they too will have a celebration. Remember, Mayakovsky said: "In four years, there will be a garden-city here"? Well, Mariupol became a garden-city in just two years. This is an incredibly inspiring example. And what happiness it is that thanks to the festival the whole world sees our city!

Honorary diplomas were also awarded to the film "Poets of the Military Circle" by director Vladimir Fatyanov (Russia) and the film "Call Sign 'Kaban" by director Nikolai Prasolov (Russia).

The festival "Won Together" traditionally honors the heroes of documentary films. For the heroine of the film "Motherland/Mother" canine handler Ekaterina Olimpieva, director Yana Bekh (Russia) received an Honorary Diploma. Honorary diplomas were received by:

• Yefrosinya Morozova, "Out of the Comfort Zone" (director Maxim Korolenko, Russia);

• Samizhon Abdullaev, "The Flyers" (director Amir Abbyasov, Russia);

• Andrey Kosenko, "Cucumbers, Potatoes, Bread" (director Ilya Vologurov, Russia);

• Ilnar Khatmullin, "Dance of the Hero" (director Radik Kilmamatov, Russia).

An honorary award at the film festival was also given to the film "The People's War. Volunteers" (director Maxim Kuznetsov, Russia).

- I would very much like our laureates to return to our festival with their new wonderful films. To everyone – goodness, happiness, and love! - said jury chairman Vitaly Potyomkin, addressing the winners.

In turn, Valery Ruzin concluded at the end of the award ceremony:

- Let cultural heritage unite us, and let documentary cinema continue to tell the truth about victories – great and small!

An integral part of the film festival was the International Round Tables "Cinema: The Art of Creating the Future Based on Shared Values," held in two stages: on September 17 in Moscow, and on September 22, in Sochi. International experts from 16 countries took part in the discussions.

The Moscow meeting was attended by Alexander Ageev (Russia), Vitaly Potyomkin (Russia), Matthew Ehret (Canada), Liliana Cavase (Brazil), Nicholas Rooney (UK), Peter Kuznick (USA), Amishai Goodman-Goldstein (USA), Wei Dong (China), Grigory Pelman (Israel), Frederico Benevides (Brazil), Mariana H. Rivera (Mexico), Josue Vergara Lopez (Mexico), Yousef Alari (Jordan), Said Nabi (Iran), Khondoker Taj Biul Hasan (Bangladesh), Jure Kreft (Slovenia), Elena Perrout (France), Yannis Kostavaras (Greece), Egor Kuzhelev (Russia).

The round table in Sochi was attended by Vitaly Potyomkin (Russia), Alexey Pishchulin (Russia), Liliana Cavase (Brazil), Nicholas Rooney (UK), Frederico Benevides (Brazil), Mariana H. Rivera (Mexico), Josue Vergara Lopez (Mexico), Yousef Alari (Jordan), Said Nabi (Iran), Khondoker MD Taj Biul Hasan (Bangladesh), Jure Kreft (Slovenia), Aida Soboleva (Russia), Olga Pasko (Russia), Aiyana Subanova (Kyrgyzstan), Ilyas Autov (Kazakhstan), Nadezhda Lebedeva (Russia), Laila Akhmetova (Kazakhstan), Elena Kovardakova (Kazakhstan).

The moderator of the Moscow discussion was Alexey Aleshkovsky, president of the Guild of Screenwriters and vice-chairman of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia; the discussion in Sochi was moderated by Valery Ruzin. Together with jury members and authors of participating films, the experts formulated a thesis important for the film festival: genuine value-driven cinema avoids declarativeness and slogans. Its power lies in the ability to experience shared values (family, mercy, civic courage, fidelity to memory) through human destiny, conflict, and the personal choice of the hero.

Participants emphasized that in an era of cultural disunity and political polarization, it is cinema that is capable of restoring to people the ability to see in the "other" not an abstract symbol or threat, but a living, complex personality worthy of understanding. Cinema is not meant to smooth over the tragic contradictions of the world, but it can make them visible in all their human complexity, not allowing fear or propaganda to destroy the possibility of dialogue.

The film festival "We Won Together" and its accompanying discussion platforms once again proved: cinema remains one of the most powerful and subtle instruments of public diplomacy. It speaks a universal language. Turning differences into a source of mutual enrichment rather than alienation, cinema reminds us that beauty, intellect, and an honest conversation about the past are truly capable of becoming the foundation for a shared future.

The organizers of the film festival are the World Peoples Assembly, the Administration of the City of Sochi, the production center "Integration," the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio, and the company "Intellectual Resource" with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

Partners: The Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation, the Regional Cinema Support Fund, the "Film School" project, the Sochi Institute of RUDN University, the Center for Creative Industries of MNIIPU, the "Memory of Victories" Foundation.

Media partners: Publishing House "Arguments and Facts," TV channels OTR, MIR, VGTRK: "Vesti Sochi," IA "InterMedia," portals "Novosti Sochi," "Kultura.rf," "Literaturnaya Gazeta," "Utro.ru," IPQuorum, "Rabotniki TV," "Set Istorii," Moviestart.

Read about the results of the festival on the official websites of the Film Festival and the World Peoples Assembly.

Additional information – at media@world-assembly.org.

Photo archive (photos provided by the Media Center of the World Peoples Assembly).