This year, Trifon Bebutov, a journalist, media manager, documentary filmmaker, founder and general producer of DREAMCAST media, former editor-in-chief of the magazine “Rules of Life,” and current editorial director of Afisha Daily, will serve as the festival’s program director.

I am deeply honored to join the New Movement festival team as program director. I am sincerely grateful to Maxim Korolev and Artem Mikhalkov for their trust and the invitation to be part of this important process. I am convinced that the New Movement today is not just a festival, but a gathering point for new names, new voices, and new meanings that will shape the future of cinema—both for audiences and the industry, notes Trifon Bebutov.

Hanna Mironenko, a film scholar, producer, and international festival expert, has been appointed curator of the Art Nouveau Film Market. A graduate of VGIK (Kirill Razlogov’s workshop) and the Jagiellonian University, she has over 15 years of experience promoting films at festivals and has collaborated with such festivals as the San Sebastian International Film Festival, Camerimage, Helsinki DocPoint, and the Moscow International Film Festival. She has been a guest expert at the business programs of IFF Rotterdam, Tampere FF, Go Short, and others. Hanna Mironenko is a co-founder of Eastwood Agency.

This year, the festival is presenting a new visual concept, developed by artist and designer Konstantin Chirkov. It is based on the image of an arrow as a symbol of movement, development, and support. A dynamic composition of arrows forms the visual language of the festival, reflecting its idea as a space for growth and exploration. The concept is complemented by the image of a person rising into the air with the help of balloons – a metaphor for a creator whose ideas gain strength and embodiment in synergy with the festival.

I decided to completely redesign the festival identity, but without looking for complex metaphors. For me, the image of an arrow became a symbol of movement, and then I created a composition of several arrows. This dynamic graphic element became the basis for the festival’s key image—a symbol of movement, development, and support. Later, the image of a man flying on hot air balloons emerged: this is the creator, and the balloons represent his ideas, which are not always sufficient to unleash his creative potential. Therefore, the symbiosis of the arrows (the festival’s image) and the creative personality helps bring a work of cinema to life, said Konstantin Chirkov.

“New Movement” is a young festival that is evolving alongside the industry and young filmmakers. It is important to us that it reflects this movement—openness to the new, a willingness to experiment and dialogue. The new team members are a natural continuation of the festival’s original concept and development, says General Producer Maxim Korolev.

As a reminder, the New Movement festival was first held in Veliky Novgorod in 2024, and since then, it has established itself as an important platform for young filmmakers, bringing together new names, ideas, and a professional community.

The third festival is no longer a start, but a movement forward. Our festival was conceived as a space for young filmmakers, and today it is beginning to find its own scale and voice. New Movement is becoming an important point for the industry and a place to which people return—for us, this is a sign that the chosen direction is working and can develop further. We are making every effort to ensure that the festival continues to grow, maintaining its openness to new ideas and attention to authors, says Artem Mikhalkov, the festival’s general producer.

The festival will host the second Auteur Film Market in 2026, where young directors and producers will present their projects to distributors, platforms, festival selectors, and potential partners. The festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Novgorod Region.

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