"Message to Man" is an international film festival of documentary, short fiction, animation, and experimental films, founded in 1989 in Leningrad by director Mikhail Litvyakov. Which documentary films are worth paying attention to this year – read in...

In 2023, the International Film Festival "Message to Man" received 2019 applications from 82 countries. The leaders in the number of applications are Russia, France, China, Iran, the USA, Italy, and India. Participants also sent their works from Iraq, Spain, Germany, Latvia, Switzerland, Canada, Tajikistan, Armenia, Belgium, Uzbekistan, Iran, and other countries.

The International Film Festival "Message to Man," which will take place in St. Petersburg from October 20 to 28, 2023, has announced the composition of its competition programs. The International Competition program includes 33 films: 8 feature-length and 25 short films.

So, the International Competition program of the International Film Festival "Message to Man" includes:

Feature-Length Documentary Films

• "Arm Wrestler" / Arm Wrestler. Director: Yorgos Gousis. Greece, 2022.
• "Background" / Background. Director: Khaled Abdulwahed. Germany, 2023.
• "Geographies of Solitude" / Geographies of Solitude. Director: Jacquelyn Mills. Canada, 2022.
• "Adieu Sauvage" / Adieu Sauvage. Director: Sergio Guataquira Sarmiento. Belgium, France, 2023.
• "The Castle" / The Castle. Director: Martin Benchimol. Argentina, France. 2023.
• "Fragments from Heaven" / Fragments from Heaven. Director: Adnane Baraka. Morocco, France, 2022.
• "Light Falls Vertical" / Light Falls Vertical. Director: Eftihia Zymvragaki. Spain, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, 2022.
• "Twilight" / Twilight. Director: Vladimir Eisner. Russia, Germany, 2023.

Short Documentary Films

• "Aqueronte" / Aqueronte. Director: Manuel Muñoz. Spain, 2023.
• "All the Days of May" / All the Days of May. Director: Miriam Charles. Canada, 2023.
• "Sonnenhof" / Sonnenhof. Director: Tatjana Fanny. Switzerland, Netherlands, 2023.
• "Scarce" / Scarce. Directors: Clara Anastasia, Gabriela Gaia Meirelles. Brazil, 2022.
• "Patient" / Patient. Director: Laurie Felker. USA, 2023.
• "Planet D" / Planet D. Director: Olesya Rudyka. Russia, 2023.
• "Dentures" / Dentures. Directors: Siddharth Potade, Nikhil Lama. India, 2023.
• "Fran and Verka; or a Usual Day in an Abandoned Village" / Fran and Verka; or a Usual Day in an Abandoned Village. Director: Sovran Nrekaj. Kosovo, 2023.

Read more about how the festival will take place in our upcoming articles.