The "Window to Europe" Film Festival Sums Up Results

In Vyborg, the "Window to Europe" film festival, which is always held in mid-August, has concluded. It is one of the oldest domestic film reviews. It was held for the thirty-third time. Three competition programs, special screenings, lectures, the exhibition "Catching Leo Tolstoy. Camera. Phonograph. Cinematograph". All film lovers who came to Vyborg had an excellent opportunity to gather genuine cinephile impressions during this intense festival week.

It is no coincidence that "Window to Europe" is held in an ancient city that preserves traces of history in literally every stone. Tradition is perhaps the key word of the festival, giving it a special charm. Since 1994, the review has opened with a festive procession, during which all city residents can join the guests, participants, and jury members. Accompanied by an orchestra, everyone marches from the Druzhba Hotel to the Vyborg Palace cinema, where the opening ceremony takes place, and later all competition screenings are held.

Another distinctive feature of the Vyborg film review is the "Vyborg Account" competition, in which festival films compete with winners from other festivals. Moreover, the winner is chosen by the audience together through voting.

And, of course, the closing ceremony. It is held on the territory of Vyborg Castle, where a feeling of frozen time is created. There are no modern special effects or interactive elements here, only the emotions and sincerity of everyone who takes the stage — to present and receive awards. It's absolutely hard to say goodbye to the festival.

Perhaps this commitment to its own long-standing traditions creates a friendly, light atmosphere at the festival. Here, it's as if cinema descends from its pedestal and penetrates into the auditorium, straight into our hearts.

The feature film competition of the "Window to Europe" festival in Vyborg this year featured ten films. Among them were four debuts. The program was genre-diverse: from the criminal comedy "Gelya" to the contained thriller "Someone Must Die", from the harsh drama "Big Land" to the film "Delirium". The debut film "Oncoming" by VGIK graduate Kamila Ramazanova is about how an ordinary worker Gena (Dmitry Kulichkov) and a young director Sanyok (Filipp Ershov) met in a train compartment car heading to Moscow. The acting of Dmitry Kulichkov and Victoria Tikhomirova (Natasha) did not go unnoticed by the jury — the prize for the acting duo went exactly to this pair.

The triumphant film of the 2025 "Window to Europe" festival is the debut feature film by director Raul Geydarov "Sidney Lumet's Birthday". Here, the main character, young Dato, lives in the backwoods of Krasnodar Krai with his uncle and grandmother and secretly dreams of applying to become a director, although he tells everyone he will become a driller. His mother's unexpected arrival triggers a chain of significant events — Dato must confront himself and determine which future he will choose. The film artlessly finds a path to the hearts, deeply etching itself into memory with its details. The director found an ideal balance between an auteur statement and audience-friendly cinema.

The "Window to Europe" festival continues to open the way for aspiring directors into the world of big cinema. Strong, original, and distinctly styled debuts are a great highlight of this review. We look forward to even more such works in the future, because ultimately, it is these young filmmakers, inheriting traditions, who set the new tone for our cinema.

Based on materials from the press service of the "Window to Europe" festival