Northern Character - XV International Film Festival (hereinafter referred to as the Festival) will be held in Murmansk (Russia) November 13 – 19, 2023.

Festival theme: "Attraction of the North"
The North has always been attracting adventurers and romantics. As a magnet the Polar land keeps attracting them today by its unique nature and incredibly brave and open-hearted people.
The organizers of Northern Character International Film Festival invite filmmakers and journalists from different countries to submit their films and creative works for the films-in-competition program. We are looking forward to films of different genres, covering a wide range of topics: from past to present, from searching for the meaning to choosing your place in life.

Festival Mission:
- to raise awareness of the world community about the life of people in the Far North, about the perspectives for development and careful use of the Arctic territories;
- to enable the authors of TV programs and films to expand their audience;
- to create a platform for further joint creativity;
- for young journalists and filmmakers - to improve their professional level in the production of tv-programs and films;
- to develop common approaches to organizing film-making in the Arctic territories in order to decrease the technogenic load on the northern nature.

Organizers of the Festival:
Northern Character Production Center
Art Media Service Ltd.

The Festival is supported by:
The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
The Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives
The Government of Murmansk region

Festival partners:
Cinematographers Union of the Russian Federation
Film Production Development Center of the Murmansk Region
Journalists Union of Russia
Murmansk Regional Museum of Local Lore
Murmansk Regional Art Museum
Murmansk children's theater school
Murmansk Arctic State University
Murmansk State Regional Universal Scientific Library
Mirage Cinema
Central library of Murmansk city
Murmansk regional youth and children library of V.P.Makhaeva
Murmansk region puppet theatre
Contemporary arts center 21”A”.Sopki.
Murmansk Youth House
Meridian Congress Hotel

Festival official languages: Russian and English

Competitive screenings of festival films;
Viewings and discussions of TV programs and films;
Master classes by Russian and foreign documentary and feature filmmakers;
Media forum;
Presentations of TV and film projects;
Out-of-competition screening of films and television programs;
Cultural program (including excursions).

Programs of various genres, television and documentary, feature films and short films created by state, municipal and private television companies, studios, private individuals and aired in 2021-2023 are accepted to participate in the creative competition of the Festival.
One author may not submit more than one work in one nomination.

The deadline for applications, finished works (with English subtitles) for participation in the competition is from July 15 to September 15, 2023. Films without English subtitles will not be accepted.

Please note: film version submitted with the application is considered final and may not be altered or replaced!
Films received after September 15th will not be eligible for the competition!

The films are previewed by the Expert Council, which makes the decision on their inclusion in the competition program of the Festival. The Expert Council does not gives reviews for 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 with Diplomas. By the decision of the jury, special prizes are established: “The best director”, “The best camera”, “The best disclosure of the topic of youth / children”, “The best coverage of culture”. The jury also awards the main award of the Festival – the "Grand Prix". The results of the competition will be announced at the Ceremony of Awards of the Festival winners on November 18, 2023 in Murmansk. Special award by Film Production Development Center of the Murmansk region “Close Up” – to the best film by filmmakers from the Murmansk region

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

2. Form of submission of works:
a) Video data source: Internet file (Vimeo, Dropbox, Yandex.Disk, Google drive, cloud.mail.ru) NB: Videos from YouTube are not accepted!
b) Video and audio data format: content * .avi, * .mpeg (* .mpg), * .mp4, * .mov, * .m2ts (encoder: MPEG-2, MPEG-4, H.264, or Microsoft DV PAL
Audio / video in * .vob format are not accepted!
Recommended file size - 5-7 GB
c) The audio track of a film, program or story must be mixed in both L and R channels with -11dB sound level.
Audio data format: PCM (Stereo, 48 KHz 16 bit, 2 channels), MPEG Audio Layer-2 (48KHz 224 or 256 kbps, 2 channels), AAC, AC3.
Each film in competition must have an identification leaderboard, which indicates: name, timing, manufacturing company, authors of the film. Materials that have defects in the image, sound, presented in a different format, are not accepted to the competition.

3. Film in competition must have subtitles in English. It is not allowed to overlay titles with "creeping line". The standard for subtitles is 2 lines, taking into account the standard zone of their proper location.

4. For the Russian participants - a completed form for the transfer of the right to non-commercial use of the submitted materials within the framework of the Northern Character Cinema Marathon, outdoor cinemas, use of program / film fragments 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 makers of the film / program, stills from the film (1-2 photographs (JPG 720х576, 24 bit), annotation for the film (up to 250 characters!), name of the manufacturer, contact phone numbers, e-mail. Information must be submitted in Russian and English. (All information is written in the application)

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

The festival does not pay for the participant's travel and accommodation. The organizers cover the costs of food, accreditation for all festival events for 1 (one) representative of the creative group of the film admitted to the competition. The rest of the members of the creative group, who wish to participate in the festival, bear the cost of food themselves.

Programs/films shown at the Festival are not paid any screening fees.

A fragment of a film presented at the Festival can be used in advertising and information activities related to the promotion of the Festival and coverage of its results.

The Directorate of the Festival guarantees the protection of the 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 submitted projects. Compliance with copyright and related rights is carried out in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation.


Claims and third parties claims, including copyright holders and related rights, are resolved on behalf of the participant who submitted the work and at his own expense.

The Organizing Committee of the Festival is not responsible for claims and lawsuits related to copyright and related rights submitted to the competition of programs (films).

Films / programs submitted for participation in the competition will not be returned.

Programs/films, applications, printed version of titles are accepted in electronic form marked Northern Character Festival.
E-mail: nchfest@gmail.com
WEB site: https://www.northchar.ru/eng

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