Pavel Pechenkin's "Deep Rear" Wins the Grand Prix: Sochi Hosts the Closing of the XXI International Film Festival "Won Together"
The closing ceremony of the XXI Vladimir Menshov International Film Festival "Won Together" was held on September 23, 2026, in Sochi. The event was held as part of the Second World Public Assembly "New World: Values That Unite," organized by the World Peoples Assembly.
The festival program included 105 films from 23 countries. The works were presented in ten thematic blocks, including:
the "Memory" and "Reflection" sections of the main International Competition;
the International Student Works Competition;
the national documentary film competition;
the "Voices of Unbroken People" program;
the Valery Timoshchenko film program;
the non-competition programs "Cultural Code" and "Film Art Studio";
special screenings.
The gala ceremony was hosted by Elizaveta Baranova, curator of the festival's international programs, and Polina Popova, curator of the festival's foreign participants and guests.
The evening began with an innovation — the presentation of the "Happiness of Victory" cash prize, established by the film forum's information partner, the "Happiness Aggregator" media holding. The award's purpose is to recognize the author of the film that best demonstrated hope, resilience in difficult situations, and faith in the future.
Marina Volkova, head of the Department of Happiness of the World Peoples Assembly and the "Happiness Aggregator" Center for Sociocultural Rehabilitation and Development, took the stage to present the prize:
– Our team faced a difficult task — to choose the film that, in our opinion, each of you should see. I won't drag out the intrigue. I will simply name the film and the name of the director whose work shook us to the depths of our souls. It is the film "Deep Rear" by Pavel Pechenkin.
Marina Volkova also added that festival cinema will continue to live on after the screening's closing: the media holding is preparing a special issue of the "Happiness Aggregator" magazine. It will include materials about all the participating films, and the publication itself will be distributed both at all-Russian and international venues.
Valery Ruzin, president of the film festival, took the stage to announce the main awards. He emphasized that truly outstanding people had gathered on the jury, and the participants themselves had noted more than once during the film festival: the program turned out to be exceptionally strong — in all competitions without exception.
– It was incredibly difficult to select: applications came from more than 40 countries, that's several hundred films. Our programming directorate did colossal work, and in the end 105 films made it into the program. Separately, I want to say: 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 receiving honorary diplomas of the festival today, — Valery Ruzin stated.
One of the first to be recognized was Olga Pasko's film "Mariupol. Time for Action." Ascending the stage to receive the award, the director addressed the hall with gratitude:
– Today this news will reach our guys, everyone who is now rebuilding Mariupol — and they will have a celebration too. 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. Director Yana Bekh (Russia) received a diploma for her hero in the film "Motherland/Mother."
The Audience Choice Award was presented to Sergei Pochin, producer of the film "War Through the Eyes of a Diver" (director Maxim Katushkin).
The International Student Works Competition awards were presented by jury members: Nicholas Rooney (United Kingdom), Laila Akhmetova (Kazakhstan), and jury chairman Vitaly Potemkin.
– I would very much like our laureates to return to us at the festival with their new wonderful films. To everyone — goodness, happiness, and love! — Vitaly Potemkin noted, addressing the winners.
The International Student Works Competition prizes were awarded to:
a special prize for a subtle exploration of the spiritual value and nobility of the labor of elderly heroes in the film "Milk and Honey," director Sara Maric (Serbia);
a special mention for the choice of a hero possessing qualities of eccentricity — the film "Tree of Life" by Aiyana Subanova (Kyrgyzstan);
a special mention for the embodiment of the poetry of dance — the film "Block" by director Maya Bitan (Israel);
a special mention for the original embodiment of the theme of craft as creativity — the film "Under Repair" by director Beatriz Machado Oliveira (Portugal);
the main prize of the student competition for an artistic exploration of the theme of the transience of material memory — the film "Echo", director Dan Grabnar (Serbia).
Liliana Kawase (Portugal) and Alexey Pishchulin announced the winners of the international competition in two key segments — "Memory" and "Reflection".
In the "Memory" segment, the Vladislav Mikosha Prize for Best Film was awarded to the film "Diary of a Scout" (director Samuel Leon, Chile).
In the "Reflection" segment, the Jemma Firsova Prize was received by the film "Tatti, Land of Dreamers" (director Ruedi Gerber, Switzerland/Italy).
The Grand Prix of the film festival "Won Together," by decision of all the jury chairmen, was awarded to the film "Deep Rear" by director Pavel Pechenkin (Russia). To present the most eagerly awaited award, film festival president Valery Ruzin once again took the stage:
– This is a world premiere and a unique work. I watched it today for the second time and was amazed again: for all that I have lived a long life and know the history of my country well, the film revealed to me so much that was new, precise, and interesting — astonishing chronicle 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!
– May cultural heritage unite us, and may documentary cinema continue to tell the truth about victories — great and small! — Valery Ruzin concluded from the stage.
Let us recall that some of the film festival's prizes were presented at the gala closing ceremony of the Moscow program on September 17. The Igor Shadkhan Prize for Best Documentary and the main prize of the press jury went to the film "All Simplicity in a Direct Line" (director Irina Vasilyeva). The Svyatoslav Belza Prize for Best Film on the Theme of Culture was received by "The Keepers" (director Ella Tukhareli). The Prize of the Guild of Film Scholars and Film Critics of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia "For the Creation of a Visible Dialogue Between Literary Classics and Modernity" was awarded to the film "Chekhov's Sakhalin" by Ivan Golovnev.
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.
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, and the "Memory of Victories" Fund.
Media partners: the "Argumenty i Fakty" Publishing House, OTR, MIR TV channels, VGTRK: "Vesti Sochi," the InterMedia news agency, the portals "Novosti Sochi," "Kultura.rf," "Literaturnaya Gazeta," "Utro.ru," IPQuorum, "TV Workers," "Network of History," Moviestart.
Read about the results of the screening on the official websites of the Film Festival and the World Peoples Assembly.
Additional information is available at media@world-assembly.org.
Photo archive (photographer — Mikhail Denisov).