On Tuesday, April 2, the program of the 46th Moscow International Film Festival, which this year will be held from April 19 to 26, became known. 

In total, more than 230 film projects will be shown during the screening.

“This year we have more than 230 films in competitive and non-competitive programs, which is about 20% more than last year. Taking into account the festival of BRICS countries, which will be held in parallel with the MIFF, there will be even more films - 260 feature films, non-fiction films, animations, short films, multi-part feature films,” TASS quotes festival selector Ivan Kudryavtsev as saying.

The screening will open with the film “Open Skies”, shot by filmmakers from Mexico and Spain. This is a crime drama about two teenage brothers who, along with their half-sister, travel towards the US-Mexico border. The heroes hope to find the man responsible for the accident that killed their father. 

The closing film was Oleg Trofim's action adventure "Major Thunder: The Game", the third full-length part of the popular franchise based on comics. Tikhon Zhiznevsky, Alexander Seteykin, Lyubov Aksenova and Alexey Maklakov returned to their roles in the film. This time, the valiant St. Petersburg police major Igor Grom will have to defeat the mysterious villain known as the Phantom.

  • © Still from the film “Major Thunder: The Game”

The main competition of the film festival included 11 films. Among them is the Russian “Alien” directed by Ivan Sosnin. The film is a mystical drama about a man who lives in a village, but is very different from all his neighbors. 

Also selected for the section was the film “Survive in Mo...” by Moldovan director Grigore Beket, shot with the participation of filmmakers from Russia and Romania. The film tells the story of a young man from a Moldovan village who moves to Moscow to become a doctor. Soon the hero realizes that real life is far from his expectations. According to the director, this film was inspired by the real story of one of his friends. 

Along with “The Alien” and “Survive in Mo...”, the films “21 Rubies” (Romania), “Everything Will Be Revealed” (Austria), “Shlimazzle” (Germany), “Breath of Cold” (Iran) will compete for the main prize of the Moscow International Film Festival. , “The Forest King” (Serbia), “Martin Reads the Koran” (Germany), “Between a Dog and a Wolf” (Turkey), “Nirvana” (Bangladesh), “Shame” (Mexico, Qatar). 

The jury of the main competition will be headed by director, producer and actor from Iceland Fridrik Thor Fridriksson. He was nominated for an Oscar for Nature's Children and worked with Lars von Trier on Dancer in the Dark and The Big Boss. Together with him, the best films will be chosen by actress Elena Lyadova and directors Igor Voloshin and Khusein Karabey.

The “Russian Premieres” program included seven films. The heroine of Yulia Trofimova’s film “Liar,” 17-year-old Eva, accuses the famous artist of harassment in order to attract attention.

Roman Mikhailov’s “We Must Make Films About Love” tells the story of filmmakers who went to Varanasi, India, to shoot an arthouse film. There, the characters think about the meaning of life and eternal values, while filming gets out of control.

“This movie is a parable about the disintegration of the world and correction, about love as the only force capable of healing the world,” the director said about his project.

  • © Still from the film “Nevada”

The action of the work by Matias Musa and Anna Tyurina “Nevada” unfolds around a village resident who one day learns that her schizophrenic husband has escaped from a psychiatric hospital.

Director Anatoly Koliev in his war film “Seven Black Papers” talks about two brothers waiting for their father from the front. In order not to upset others, they persuade the postman to hide the funeral from everyone until the end of the war. 

Also in the competition are “Evgeny Telegin” by Viktor Tikhomirov, “Man and Woman” by Vladimir Kott, “The Worst of All” by Alexandra Karmaeva. 

The panel of judges for the program included producer Alexander Akopov, director Andrei Zaitsev and actress Tatyana Lyutaeva.

The “First Series” section will feature six new series from Russia, Iceland, Mexico, Slovenia and Iran. In particular, the program included a project from the Okko video service “Track” with Anna Mikhalkova, Karina Razumovskaya, Alexander Ilyin Jr. and other artists. In the story, Judge Svetlana goes in search of her adopted daughter and gets on the trail of an entire criminal network involved in trafficking in teenagers. 

The central roles in the Kinopoisk series “Prometheus” were played by Lyubov Aksyonova, Philip Yankovsky and Dmitry Chebotarev. The plot of the fantasy thriller centers on journalist Anna, who is investigating a case of a mystical nature. 

In addition to the main programs, this year the film festival will host Fright Night.