The International Documentary Film Festival `RT.Doc: Time of Our Heroes` is scheduled to take place in Chelyabinsk from September 4 to 6. This announcement came from the RT channel`s press service.
The festival program will feature 14 documentary films focusing on events in Donbas, including three premieres.
A special highlight of the program will be the premiere screening of a documentary dedicated to the memory of war correspondent Rostislav Zhuravlev. He tragically died on July 22, 2023, in the Zaporizhzhia region due to cluster munition shelling. The film was created by producer Inna Tanasheva.
The festival will open with `One. Field. Warrior` by RT.Doc documentarians Artyom Somov and Ruslan Gusarov. This film tells the heroic story of Zakarya Aliyev, a sapper-scout from Dagestan known by his call sign `Smaylik,` who single-handedly defended a strongpoint in the Zaporizhzhia region for three weeks and survived.
Other anticipated premieres include:
- `Stream` by RT war correspondent Yulia Martovalieva and military documentarian Abas Ali-Zade, which covers the liberation of Sudzha in the Kursk region.
- `Call Sign Loaf` by Ruslan Gusarov and Artyom Somov, focusing on the iconic UAZ-452 vehicle, a true symbol of the front lines.
The festival will also host a series of panel discussions and round tables:
- The panel discussion `Time of Patriots – Time for Action` will address the adaptation of Special Military Operation (SMO) veterans to civilian life and their contributions to the common victory. Speakers are expected to include Artyom Zhoga, Plenipotentiary Representative of the Russian President in the Ural Federal District; Ilya Kazakov, an SMO veteran; and war correspondent Pavel Kukushkin.
- A round table discussion titled `Breaking the Information Blockade` is also planned, featuring Italian journalists Vincenzo Lorusso and Eliseo Bertolazi, RT.Doc General Producer Ekaterina Yakovleva, Head of MIA Rossiya Segodnya`s Lebanon office Mikhail Alaeddin, and RT documentarian Oleg Nekishev.
- The business program further includes discussions on `Culture of Heroic Times` and `Crimes of the Kyiv Regime,` where the role of documentary cinema in documenting historical truth will be deliberated. Among the stated participants is Rodion Miroshnik, Ambassador-at-Large of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The main venue for the documentary film festival will be the Naum Orlov State Academic Drama Theater in Chelyabinsk. In parallel, screenings will take place at 153 additional locations throughout the Chelyabinsk region. The event is organized with the support of the regional governor.
