Московский еврейский кинофестиваль — Moscow Jewish Film Festival (9)

Festival start: 01 September 2024      Festival end: 08 September 2024

For three thousand years, the Jewish people have been scattered around the world. That is why Jewish cinema is created in many different countries, alongside with special festivals that select and showcase those films. The Jewish Film Festival® in Moscow became the first of its kind in Russia. It was founded in 2015 and has been held annually ever since.

What is the Jewish cinema, after all? It encompasses far more than films made by Jewish directors or films which star famous Jewish actors. The never-ending search for Jewish identity, assimilation of diasporas and philosophy of self-determination and separation of the Jewish people in a society, return to the past, glorification of national heroes and mourning of victims, challenges of today’s world and the problem of relevance and preservation of traditions - these and many other issues attract filmmakers of all countries and continents. By searching and selecting the best Jewish films during the course of the past year we have attempted to shape an answer to the question of what these rapidly changing ethnic-themed films really are. Moscow, a large metropolitan area, a place where many cultures and nationalities live side-by-side, is one of the world’s most fitting locations for a festival that represents a dialogue of national communities.

The MJFF holds screenings of the most important and resonant Jewish films of the latest years. At the centre of the Festival is the Feature Films Competition Program, which is complemented by screenings of documentary films, short films and documentary shorts (as part of either competition programs or special screenings), as well as by discussions with experts on different topics raised in films and critics who specialize in Jewish cinema.

The award of the MJFF is called the Key to Discoveries. The statuette symbolizes the place of the Jewish culture at the intersection of interaction between different countries and nationalities.

The International Jury awards the following prizes to films of the Main Competition:
- Key to Discovery Award for the Best Film;
- Jury prize

Alongside the Main Competition the Jury selects winners in the following categories:
- Best Documentary Feature Film;
- Best Narrative Short Film;
- Best Documentary Short Film

The Public Council of the Festival awards:
- The Special Yakov Kaller Award for the Best Jewish-themed film of the year;
- Honorary award "For outstanding contribution to the development of Jewish films in Russia"

To be considered for exhibition, submissions must have relevance to Jewish themes, issues, history, heritage and culture.

Suitable category of films:
Narrative feature, documentary feature, narrative short, documentary short.

If selected to the Festival, film must be in Blu-ray, shipped via mail, or any other convenient Full HD format, uploaded in internet file sharing service.
Alongside the screening copy we require:

1) Dialogue list in english
2) Separate .srt file with english subtitles
3) No embedded subtitles in any language in the screener
4) Press-kit, trailer, poster and film stills

By submitting a film to the Festival and if your film is selected, you consent to the use of materials from the film (poster, trailer, stills and video up to 30 seconds) for promotional purposes.




The festival program includes:

- Main competition;
- Competition of full-length documentary films;
- Competition of short documentary films;
- Competition of short feature films;
- Out of competition screenings;

There is also an educational program within festival, which includes:

- Educational lectures and discussions;
- Creative meetings with the creators of the festival films;
- Master classes by leading filmmakers of the world;

Those wishing to submit a film for participation in the Moscow Jewish Film Festival should officially declare this to the MJFF Directorate. The selection of films for participation in the Festival is carried out by the Program Director.

The program of film screenings at the festival is determined by the MJFF Directorate. Each film may be shown no more than five times during the festival, including shows for the press.

Only feature films, finished no earlier than 12 months before the start of the Festival will participate in the Main Competition.

These restrictions do not apply to other Competition programs and Out of Competition section.

Films from competitive program are screened in DCP and mp4 formats.

Demonstration copies of films participating in Festival Contests must be in the original language and with english subtitles, in case the original language is not english.

Copies of films participating in the Festival Contests must be submitted to the MJFF Directorate no later than September, 2024.

Films selected for the Festival program must provide:

- Installation or dialogue sheets in the original language in the electronic version and / or a file with subtitles in Russian, english or the original language in the .srt format;

- Synopsis, promotional materials, press materials;
- Promotional video and stills from the film in digital format;
- Materials for the catalog (information about the creators of the film, photographs, including the photograph of the director, film slides).

At the same time, the copyright holder agrees:

- To the public presentation of the film in a competitive or out-of-competition screening
with the participation of representatives of the creative team;
- To present the film fragments on television, on the official website of the Festival and in
other promotional materials of the Festival;
- To the use of screenshots from the film in the promotional materials of the Festival (catalogs, advertising brochures, on the website, in multimedia presentations, etc.).

There are two jury organized for evaluation of competition films:


- International Jury of the Main Competition;
- The Jury of documentary and short films competition.