Rose of Donbass

About

The “Rose of Donbas” Film Festival is the first large‑scale film festival held in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The festival will take place from November 4 to November 10, 2026, in Donetsk and will open on a state holiday — National Unity Day. 2026 has been declared the Year of the Unity of the Peoples of Russia.

The name of the film festival was chosen for a reason: UNESCO named Donetsk the greenest industrial city in the world and granted it the status of “City of a Million Roses”. Today, the rose has become a symbol of peace, hope, and the revival of Donbas.

The festival will showcase films from various genres — feature and short fiction films, documentaries, and animated films. The festival will feature master classes, lectures, and creative meetings with prominent representatives of the film industry.

The festival is held with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, with the assistance of the Government of the DPR, the Ministry of Culture of the DPR, and the Department of Culture of the Administration of the Donetsk City District. The organizer is LLC “PRODUCTION CENTER POKOLENIE”.

Awards

The Rose of Donbass statuette for the best film in the following categories. Diplomas were awarded for best direction, acting, cinematography, screenplay, music, and production. The DPR Government Prize, the City Administration Prize, the Audience Award, prizes for best film in the Main Competition and the Debut Film Competition, and valuable gifts from the organizing committee.

Rules

1. Applications are accepted from May 15, 2026, to October 1, 2026, only via the questionnaire on the festival’s official website https://rozadonbassa.ru/. All questionnaire fields must be filled in. Applications submitted by any other method or after the specified deadline will not be considered.

2. Films completed no earlier than 2024 (2024–2026) are eligible to participate in the competition program. This restriction does not apply to non‑competitive screenings and retrospective programs.

3. Competition categories:
- feature films (short films — up to 52 minutes, full‑length films — over 52 minutes);
documentary films (short films — up to 52 minutes, full‑length films — over 52 minutes);
- feature films for children (of any duration);
- animated films (of any duration and animation technology).
Non‑competitive screenings: the children’s film programme “Clouds” and retrospective screenings.
The film’s content must be in line with the spirit of the festival: to tell, in an artistic form, about the life of society and our contemporaries as heirs to the best traditions of national culture, to promote family values, to uphold the principles of interethnic harmony, dialogue between cultures and faiths, and to reveal the distinctive features of Russian civilization and the Russian World.

4. A separate questionnaire must be submitted for each film. The film is submitted for only one nomination — if the work fits into several categories at once, choose the most suitable one.

5. All films produced in Russia must have a distribution certificate (Federal Law of the Russian Federation dated May 5, 2014, No. 101‑FZ).

6. There are no requirements for premieres. Films that have previously been shown at other film festivals are allowed to participate.

7. Technical requirements. Films are accepted in digital format MP4 or MOV in two mandatory versions:
-A viewing copy for the selection committee and the jury — HD 2K, estimated file size: 1–2 GB for feature films. It is hosted on a network resource with mandatory download access (Yandex Disk, Google Disk, Vimeo, Kinescope).

-A screening copy for exhibition on cinema screens — the recommended format is 4K, with a file size of 8–16 GB for feature films; 2K with a file size of 4–8 GB is also acceptable. It is hosted on a reliable network resource with download access (Yandex Disk, Google Disk, Vimeo, FTP).

-In addition, it is allowed to provide a finished copy in DCP format — a fully formed package with a quality guarantee, on an external media or via an FTP link. The copyright holder is responsible for the quality of the film copy and the reliability of the link.

-In the screen copy, watermarks, logos of film companies, TV channels, and any other signs are not allowed in the video sequence. Copies with such signs are not permitted for demonstration.

-Copies of the selected films, the application form, and additional materials must be received by the deadline set by the Festival Management. All conditions and deadlines must be met — otherwise, the Management has the right to exclude the film from the program.

Other information about festival rules is contained in festival regulations

Premiere Requirements

No premiere requirement

Jury and Organizers

The competition will be comprised of four juries, with experts appointed by the President of the Festival. The competition is supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Government of the Donetsk People's Republic. Management: General Director: Svetlana Nikolaevna Dalskaya, Executive Director: Lyubov Gennadyevna Khobotova, Artistic Director: Svetlana Leonidovna Kuznetsova.