More than 10 countries to participate in MIFF for first time

MOSCOW. April 17 (Interfax) - Fourteen countries, including Venezuela, Vietnam, Ireland, Luxembourg, Norway, Peru, Singapore and Ecuador, will take part in the Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) for the first time.

"What new countries will take part in the festival? There are 14 of them. They are Bolivia, Venezuela, Vietnam, Ireland, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Norway, Peru, Poland, Singapore, Croatia, and Ecuador," Nikita Mikhalkov, president of the film festival, told a briefing.

A total of 1,633 applications were filed to participate in the festival, which is 17% more than in 2024. More than 200 films from 50 countries, including 24 from the list of unfriendly states, will be shown at the festival this year. Thirteen films from 13 countries are represented in the main contest this year.

The Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) is the second oldest film festival in the world after the Venice Film Festival. The MIFF took place for the first time in 1935. It was called the Soviet Film Festival in Moscow. The first jury of the festival was chaired by Sergei Eisenstein.

Screenings have been conducted regularly since 1959. The MIFF was held once in every two years before 1999, and then it was held annually. The screenings were traditionally held in June, but the screening was rescheduled to April in 2018 due to the FIFA World Cup. After that, a decision was made that the MIFF would be held in April on a permanent basis.

The festival will be held on April 17-24 this year.