In 2022, the project received the status of an international film festival and was supported by the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives (PFCI) under the name “Short Film Days”.
The festival jury of different years included such filmmakers and experts as Vladimir Khotinenko, Yuri Bykov, Sergey Pershin, Anton Filippenko, Sofia Lebedeva, Ivan Kudryavtsev to name but a few.
Echo is a key feature of the festival, it offers a non-profit screening of Russian short films at more than 700 venues in 80 regions of Russia and 25 countries around the world. The screenings gather over 150,000 viewers annually.
The 2025 festival will be held on 14 – 21 December in Moscow, and Echo will be held from 21 December to 31 March, 2026.
1,030 applications to participate in the festival were sent from 29 countries and 59 regions of Russia.
Festival categories: Feature Films, Documentaries, Animated Films and Neural Network Films up to 30 minutes.
The business program will include
Microdrama Pitching Session,
Film Start-ups Pitching Session, Open casting of actors from Moscow film schools and much more.
You can
apply for holding Echo of the festival in your region or country.
The project is organized by the MovieStart Production Centre (www.moviestart.ru ), created to support budding filmmakers, promote experimental film formats, organise festivals and forums.
Producer Dmitry Yakunin, member of the Board of the Regional Cinema Support Fund, is Director General of the festival.