25 Baikal Film Festival “People and Environment” Announces Main Jury Lineup

The Baikal International Film Festival “People and Environment” named after V.G. Rasputin will celebrate its 25th anniversary in September 2026. It will take place in the Irkutsk Region from September 14 to 22.

This year’s jury at the Baikal Film Festival “People and Environment” will be chaired by Ella Tukhareli, a documentary filmmaker, screenwriter, and general producer of the Regional Cinema Support Fund. The jury also includes Olga Averkieva, a documentary filmmaker and producer, chair of the Perm branch of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation, and member of the Guild of Non-Fiction Film and Television; Vsevolod Korshunov, a Candidate of Sciences in Art History, associate professor at the S. A. Gerasimov All-Russian University of Cinematography, author of the book “Calling: Film Director”, and host of the “Close-Up” podcast; Vladimir Tyulkin, a director, screenwriter, and award winner at international and Russian film festivals; and Wang Jiuliang, an independent documentary filmmaker and producer from China.

Notably, two jury members have won awards at the Baikal International Film Festival “People and Environment” in previous years.

“In 2010, the jury awarded Vladimir Tyulkin the Grand Prix for his competition entry ‘Not About Dogs’. In 2018, Wang Jiuliang won Best Documentary at the People and Environment Film Festival with ‘Plastic China’. The Chinese director’s films ‘Beijing Besieged by Waste’ and ‘Plastic China’ are now known worldwide,” said Elena Utrobina, the festival’s program director.

Elena noted that Wang’s films have received the IDFA Special Jury Award for First Appearance at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam; the Golden Horse Award for Best Film Editing, one of the most prestigious honors in Chinese-language cinema; the School Program Documentary Award at the Bergen International Film Festival; and several other awards.

The festival jury will select the winners in the following categories: Best Documentary Film, Best Popular Science Film, Best Fiction Film, Best Animated Film, and Best Full-Dome Film. It will also present the Baikal Prize for raising a pressing environmental issue. Additionally, as always, special prizes from the Youth Jury and the Media Community, along with the Audience Award, will also be presented. This year’s festival Grand Prix carries a cash award of 500,000 rubles.

Excluding full-dome films, the competition program will feature 27 films, including works by directors from Russia, India, Austria, Argentina, Serbia, Iran, and Colombia.

The competition films and jury for the Best Full-Dome Film category will be announced in late August. The festival will also host the Baikal Film Project Pitching, where young directors and screenwriters will present their projects to the jury.

The festival was founded in 1999 by the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation and its Irkutsk regional branch. Today, it is one of Russia’s longest-running environmental film festivals. Over the years, nearly 800 films from more than 100 countries have been featured in its competition program.

The Baikal International Film Festival “People and Environment” named after V.G. Rasputin is supported by the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Government of the Irkutsk Region, and the Ministry of Culture of the Irkutsk Region. Its presenting sponsor is the Irkutsk Oil Company.

The Baikal International Film Festival “People and Environment” named after V.G. Rasputin is organized by the Irkutsk Regional Film Fund, “IrkutskKino” LLC, and the “Kinoforum” non-profit organization.