The XVI Northern Character International Film Festival (hereinafter referred to as the Festival) will be held in Murmansk, Murmansk region (Russia) 3-9 November, 2025.

Festival Theme: “The Line of Life”
Each person’s Line of life is different: it can be bright or almost invisible. There is no such thing as perfectly straight line of life, at some point it will always change its course. The line of life is the road we have to walk in this world. The characters of the films we are looking forward to have in the festival programme, are walking their road of trials in life, guided in their actions by love to their homeland and mercy, having high moral values, staying true to their heritage and continuity of generations.

The organizers of Northern Character International Film Festival invite filmmakers and journalists from different countries to submit their films into the competition programme. We want the audience to see the North in all its beauty. It is important for us that the films tell about caring attitude to the fragile ecosystems of the Arctic, stories and lives of the indigenous peoples of the north, living in harmony with the nature. We are going to show films in different genres, made in the north or by the northern directors, covering a broad specter of topics: from history to present, from search for meaning to character’s choosing their place in life. Special place in the Festival programme will be taken by the films about the 500 years of history of Russia’s exploration of the Northern Sea Route.

Festival Mission:
- to raise the awareness of the world about the life of people in the Far North, about the prospects for the development and careful use of the Arctic territories;
- to enable the makers of television programs and films to expand the audience;
- to create a platform for further joint creative cooperation;
- for young filmmakers and journalists – to improve their professional level in the production of films and television programs;
- to develop common approaches to organizing film production in the Arctic territories.

Competitive screening of festival films;
Watching and discussing television programs and films;
Industrial program - master classes by film directors;
Presentations of television and film projects;
Out-of-competition screening of films and television programs;
Cultural program.

1. Feature film
2. Documentary film – up to 90 minutes
3. Documentary film – up to 60 minutes
3. Animated film – up to 30 minutes
4. Short fiction film - up to 30 minutes
5. TV series – the first and the second episodes should be provided.

Programs of various genres, television and documentaries, full-length and short feature films created by state, municipal and private television companies, studios, and individuals, and aired in 2023-2025, are accepted for participation in the competition program of the Festival.
One filmmaker can submit no more than one film in one category.

Applications and completed films (with English subtitles) for participation in the competition program are accepted strictly from June 15 to August 31, 2025. Films without English subtitles will not be accepted.

Please be aware that the version stated in the application is considered final and cannot be replaced!
Films received after September 31 are not allowed into the competition!

The films are preliminarily reviewed by the Expert Council, that makes a decision on their inclusion in the competition program of the Festival. The Expert Council does not review submitted video materials (programs, films), and does not consider films without English subtitles.

The results of the competition are summed up by the international jury of the Festival. Films recognized as winners are awarded Diplomas. By decision of the jury, special diplomas are established: “The best director’s work”, “The best camera work”, “For the best disclosure of the theme of youth/children”, “For the best coverage of the theme of culture”, “For the best disclosure of the theme of family”, “For the best disclosure of patriotic theme”
The jury awards the main award of the Festival – “The Grand Prix”. The results of the competition will be announced at the Award Ceremony for the winners of the Festival on November 8, 2025 in Murmansk.

1.An application for participation in the competition is filled out on the website https://northcharfest.ru/ (for films in other languages than Russian, a script for the film in English is required, the script is attached to the application).

2. Film submission form:
a) Video data carrier: Internet file (Vimeo, Dropbox, Yandex.Disk, google-drive, cloud.mail.ru) Important: Videos from YouTube are not accepted!
b) Video and audio data format: container *. avi , *. mpeg (*.mpg ) , *.mp4, *. mov , *.m2ts (encoder: MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, or Microsoft DV PAL
Audio/video in *. vob are not accepted!
Recommended file size – up to7 GB
c) The audio track of a film, program or story must be mixed into both channels L and R with a sound level of -11dB
Audio data format: PCM ( Stereo , 48KHz 16 bit , 2 channels), MPEG Audio Layer-2 (48KHz 224 or 256 kbps , 2 channels), AAC, AC3.
Each competition film must have an identification record, which indicates: title, timing, manufacturing company, authors of the work. Materials that are defective in image, sound, or presented in a different format are not allowed into the competition.

3. Competition films must have subtitles in English. Creeping captions are not allowed. The standard for subtitles is 2 lines, taking into account the standard zone for their safe location. Subtitles in SRT file format are accepted.

4. For Russian participants - a completed form for the transfer of the right to non-commercial use of the presented materials within the framework of the Northern Character film marathons, street cinemas, the use of fragments of the program/film in special stories, videos about the Northern Character International Film Festival (the form is included in the application).

5. Materials for the booklet: brief information about the authors of the film/program, posters, stills from the film in the form of 1-2 photographs in horizontal and vertical formats (JPG 720x576, 24 bit), annotation to the film (up to 250 characters!), company name - manufacturer, contact numbers, email address. Information must be presented in Russian and English. (All information is indicated in the application).

Attention to foreign participants: the title of the film is indicated in the original language and duplicated in English.

Programs/films shown at the Festival are not given any remuneration for screening.
The Festival organizers guarantees the protection of materials submitted for the competition from illegal duplication and distribution without the consent of the author. Festival participants are responsible for the authorship and quality of all presented projects. Compliance with copyright and related rights is carried out in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.
Claims and suits of third parties, including holders of copyright and related rights, are resolved on behalf of the participant who presented the work and at his expense.
The Festival Organizing Committee is not responsible for claims and lawsuits related to copyright and related rights of programs (films) submitted to the competition.
Films/programs sent for participation in the competition will not be returned.

Programs/films, applications, printed versions of titles are accepted in electronic form
marked “Northern Character Festival”
E-mail: nchfest@gmail.com
WEB site: https://northcharfest.ru

Organizing Committee of the Festival:
Svetlana Soldatova – festival president, + 7 921 511 05 00, sol@nordfilm.ru
Erofeev Yuri – executive director, +7 921 036 00 40, 36_6@mail.ru
Osminina Svetlana – commercial director, +7 911 303 21 90, osminina72@gmail.com
Olga Danilchenko – coordinator, + 7 921 287 03 93, o.danilchenko11@yandex.ru