The 10th anniversary edition of Young Cinema Voices concluded in Vologda with four days of screenings, discussion, and celebration from July 6 through July 9. The festival prioritizes audience selection for its awards, letting moviegoers choose the winners rather than a professional jury. This model centers the viewers’ responses and the immediate impact of performances and storytelling on each audience member who attended the screenings.
In the Best Acting category, Malika Musaeva, a student from Alexander Sokurov’s Kabardino-Balkarian workshop, earned the top honor ahead of Khadija Batayeva, who leads the cast of The Cage Is Searching for a Bird. The recognition highlighted Musaeva’s growing craft and the resonance of her performance across the festival’s lineup. The Cage Is Searching for a Bird stood out among the feature entries, with Batayeva’s compelling lead performance providing the film’s emotional backbone and driving its throughline.
The Island collected two major prizes this year, taking Best Director for Stanislav Svetlov and Best Film overall. The dual triumph reflected the director’s distinctive vision and the project’s cohesive execution, evidenced by its narrative pacing and atmospheric craftsmanship. Both enthusiastic audience applause and critical attention marked the film’s journey through the festival, signaling a strong connection with viewers and a clear artistic voice that carried through multiple sessions.
For the first time, the festival featured a dedicated section for short films. In a rare moment of equal acclaim, two shorts received identical aggregate scores from the audience. Nine Girls on the Edge of Reality, created by a team led by Dasha Dyachok, Olga Peretyatkova, AL, Maria Rubina, Anastasia Shuklina, Olga Belousova, Maria Guseva, and Polina Mantsurova, tied with Salome Kintsurashvili’s The Fugitive. The synchronized voting demonstrated a shared appreciation for concise storytelling and the varied approaches that short-form cinema can take to leave a memorable impression in a single viewing.
The festival’s screenings enjoyed broad support from state and regional institutions. The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Vologda Region, and the Municipality of Vologda contributed to the event’s logistics and hosting capabilities, enabling a diverse lineup and accessible venues for audiences. PAO Severstal served as the overall partner of the review, reinforcing the festival’s resources and community reach as it celebrated a decade of emerging voices in cinema. The collaboration among sponsors, authorities, and local organizers helped create an inviting atmosphere where films could be seen, discussed, and celebrated by attendees from varied backgrounds.
Remarkably, the event also referenced an earlier milestone, acknowledging the 5th Festival of the Pilot series as part of the festival’s tradition of showcasing inventive audiovisual work. That retrospective note connected current participants with the program’s broader history, illustrating how the festival has grown while keeping its core spirit of discovery and audience engagement intact.