Boris Karadzhev was Honored for Outstanding Contribution to Documentary Cinema at the Opening of the XXI "Won Together" Film Festival, and the Film "Crocus. The Unbroken" was Premiered
The solemn opening of the XXI Vladimir Menshov Documentary Film Festival "Won Together" took place on September 14, 2026, at the A. Solzhenitsyn House of the Russian Abroad.
The host of the evening was Soviet and Russian theater and film actor Alexander Rapoport.
The ceremony was opened by Andrey Belyaninov, Secretary General of the World Peoples Assembly, after which the following spoke:
Valery Ruzin — President of the "Won Together" Film Festival;
Gleb Shagun — General Director of the non-profit organization "Integration";
Viktor Moskvin — Director of the A. Solzhenitsyn House of the Russian Abroad;
Georgy Muradov — Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Crimea — Permanent Representative of the Republic of Crimea to the President of the Russian Federation;
Peter Kuznick — Professor of History at American University in Washington and Paris, Director and Founder of the Nuclear Studies Institute in the USA;
Yuri Polyakov — writer, screenwriter;
Vitaly Potyomkin — film and TV director, producer, Candidate of Art History, Professor at the St. Petersburg University of Film and Television;
Sergey Lomakin — Director of the Special Projects Directorate of OTR;
Natalia Primakova — film scholar, director, President of the Guild of Film Scholars and Film Critics of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia;
Andrey Osipov — documentary film director;
Boris Karadzhev — director, screenwriter, head of the documentary film directing workshop at VGIK.
Greetings to the festival were also sent by the Head of the Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, Director of the UN Information Center in Moscow, Vladimir Kuznetsov, and Chinese film director and producer Yu Xiaogang.
Opening the festival, Secretary General of the World Peoples Assembly Andrey Belyaninov noted:
— The "Won Together" Film Festival is one of the most precious projects of the World Peoples Assembly. I would wish our festival not to turn into a veteran, because our efforts are directed primarily at young people. The memory of the past will live and will be valuable only through what our young people will think about these events — those to whom we will pass on this planet.
Speaking about the prospects of the festival, its President Valery Ruzin noted:
— The "Won Together" Film Festival has become part of the World Public Assembly this year and is being held not only in Sochi but also in Moscow. This fact gave us colossal scale this year — today there are representatives of more than 40 countries of the world here! Such growth fully corresponds to our slogan — "Expanding the Space of Victory!" We hope to expand this space further.
Continuing the theme of the festival's mission and goals, General Director of the non-profit organization "Integration" Gleb Shagun emphasized:
— We are very glad that the festival attracts more and more young documentarians every year. Documentary filmmaking allows all generations to argue with evidence, to express different points of view. But the most important thing is to preserve historical memory. The preservation of this memory is the foundation of the festival.
An important part of the ceremony was the awarding of Boris Karadzhev with a special festival prize for outstanding contribution to the development of documentary cinema.
The award to Boris Karadzhev was presented by director, laureate of the "Nika" and "Golden Eagle" awards Andrey Osipov:
— What is important is not only what happens on the screen, but also what happens within us after watching. And the works of our today's awardee are a case where one can return to the films many times, finding more and more new meanings in them.
Boris Karadzhev spoke about how he found his professional niche at the intersection of cinema and history and received recognition from his father, a historian.
— I promise to continue working to preserve historical truth to the best of my ability!
Vitaly Potyomkin was awarded a prize for his contribution to television documentary filmmaking. The award was presented by Sergey Lomakin, who noted the colossal role of the awardee in educating the younger generation of filmmakers.
Vitaly Potyomkin expressed gratitude to the festival organizers for the high assessment of his merits and expressed his readiness to continue working with young people.
The host presented to those present the program of the film festival, as well as the jury of the national, international, and student competitions. An important innovation of 2026 was the inclusion in the program of a retrospective of documentary films about the Special Military Operation — "Voices of the Unbroken People."
The musical part of the evening featured Ilyas Autov, soloist of the band "Motor Roller," who performed songs about space and Stalingrad.
The solemn opening of the festival concluded with the premiere screening of the film "Crocus. The Unbroken." The main protagonists of the film were the participants of the tragedy at Crocus City Hall on March 22, 2024, and those who came to the aid of the victims. The film's producer, Gleb Shagun, invited the creative team of the film onto the stage. Its director, Vladimir Khrapovitsky, emphasized how important it is to preserve the memory of such tragic events.
The organizers of the film festival are the World Peoples Assembly, the Administration of the City of Sochi, the "Integration" Production Center, the Eurasian Academy of Television and Radio, and the "Intellectual Resource" company, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the World Public Assembly.
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 the International Research Institute of Management Problems, and the "Memory of Victories" Fund.
Media partners: the "Argumenty i Fakty" Publishing House, OTR, MIR, and VGTRK television channels: "Vesti Sochi," the "InterMedia" news agency, the portals "Novosti Sochi," "Kultura.rf," "Literaturnaya Gazeta," "Utro.ru," IPQuorum, "Rabotniki TV," "Set Istorii," and Moviestart.
Additional information — on the official websites of the Film Festival and the World Peoples Assembly, as well as at media@world-assembly.org.
Accreditation: media@world-assembly.org.
Photo archive (photographer — Mikhail Denisov).