Important Update!
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Dear Submitters, starting from January 2026, due to unforeseen reasons, we strongly advise to submit your films to our festival using Vimeo or Google Drive links. We apologize for inconvenience this may cause and thank you beforehand. We really hope this is a temporary issue. All films, uploaded directly to FilmFreeway servers will be reviewed as usual, but may require advanced technical solutions to access.
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Within the Family International festival of family and children’s films presents the best movies from around the world – more than 20 participant countries annually - for family audience. Our main goal is the popularization of films, which talk about love and faithfulness and keep the rebirth of family values as their general idea. The program of the festival includes three competitions – features (main), features and animation (for children) and shorts, as well as business and social events. This is the largest family film festival in Russia!

Since 2006 there have been eighteen festival editions organized in various Russian cities, attended by national and foreign celebrities, including Ornella Muti (Italy), Michele Placido (Italy), Denis Matsuev (Russia), Samy Naceri (France), Yuri Bashmet (Russia) and others.

Our festival was presented at the Cannes Film Festival in France (2012), Berlinale in Germany (2014) and Silk Road Festival in China (2015).
Throughout the years the festival has been a friendly meeting point for film industry professionals from all over the world, who come to watch, evaluate and present their films.

The president of the festival is an actor, producer, director and founder of the Nationwide program “Within the Family” - Aleksandr Kovtunets.

The XXI International festival of family and children’s films Within the family is scheduled for July 2026.

Awards & Prizes

Main Competition
• GRAND PRIZE of the Film Festival;
• Award for Best Directing;
• Award for Best Cinematography;
• Best Actress Award;
• Best Actor Award;
• Special Jury Award;
• People’s Choice Award.

Children's Films Competition
• Best Film Award;
• Award for Best Directing;
• Best Child Artist Award;
• People’s Choice Award.

Short Films Competition
• Best film;
• Best debut film;
• Best director;
• Best acting;
• Special jury prize.

* Please keep in mind: all awards of the Festival are not monetary.
* The Grand Prize/Best Film, Best Acting, Best Directing, Best DOP winners receive a trophy and a festival certificate. Special Jury Prize and People's Choice Award receive a festival certificate.
* Due to a fragile nature of the trophies, the festival does not ship them locally or internationally. The trophies are awarded to the filmmakers, who attend the festival in person.

Rules & Terms

Please read carefully before submitting your project:

All submissions are free of charge and do not require a personal fee waiver.

The projects submitted to the festival have the meet the following requirements:

* NO pornographic content
* NO extreme violence or horror content (horror films)
* NO LGBT propaganda
* Documentary films are not considered for selection.
* Multiple-episode projects (miniseries, TV-shows) are not considered for selection.
* Feature films runtime must be under 120 min.
* Production year can be as early as 2023 (priority is given to films that have not yet been screened or released in Russia)
* All submitted non-Russian films must have English subtitles.
* All selected films, Russian and foreign, must have English subtitles available.

If the film is selected for the competition:

* We contact the submitter personally over the phone or email.
* The submitter agrees not to withdraw the film from the festival once their film has been officially selected for the competition.
* The submitter MUST be the rights holder (or their legal representative) of the film they submit.
* The submitter agrees to provide the festival the rights for a single (1) non-commercial theatrical screening of their film. Multiple screenings are a subject of personal communication between the Festival and the Rights holder (submitter)
* The submitter MUST ensure that the SRT file (sent separately) timecodes match the dialogues in the final video file, which is provided to the festival for theatrical screening. !!!If this condition is not met, the Festival reserves the right to disqualify the film from participation!!!
* For festival screening we use either DCP or MP4 (Full HD, 5000+ bitrate).
* HD Trailer and Poster (PSD or 300dpi Jpeg) are a festival's requirement.

For all intents and purposes, Within the Family IFF is not commercial! We do not sell tickets and the entry to all screenings is free of charge.
6 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Fabio Velásquez

    Perfecta comunicación a pesar de la distancia y el idioma.
    Muy complacidos y alegres de está noticia (ser ganadores del festival). De parte de todo el equipo de trabajo agradecemos a todas las personas que hicieron parte del festival.
    Muchos éxitos en sus próximas ediciones.

    Atentamente
    Fabio Ricardo Velásquez Vásquez
    Productor cortometraje EL ELEFANTE MORDORE
    57-3003556615

    July 2025
    Helpful
  • EdriL None

    Thank you very much for such a large-scale film festival and an interesting, unique experience. This is the first time for me, and you have given me the opportunity to show my work to a wide audience, and most importantly, completely free of charge. I would like to express my gratitude to all the organizers once again!
    - - -
    Спасибо большое вам за такой масштабный кинофестиваль и интересный, уникальный опыт. Для меня такое впервые, Вы подарили возможность показать мою работу на широкую аудиторию, и ,что важно, абсолютно бесплатно. Ещё раз выражаю всем организаторам огромную благодарность!

    July 2025
    Helpful
  • Giorgi Tkemaladze

    Awesome festival I definitely recommend. Keep going you awesome work, I wish you the best!!

    July 2025
    Helpful
  • Amen Sahraei

    Great festival .I like it

    July 2025
    Helpful
  • Alin Bijan

    I recently had the pleasure of attending the Within the Family International Film Festival in Yaroslavl, Russia. This festival the largest family film festival in the world, promotes family values and brings people from all over the world together.

    I had the chance to meet many incredible filmmakers and people from around the world, and I’m excited about collaborating with them on future projects.

    The organization, friendly atmosphere, warm welcome and the hospitality from the festival staff made my experience truly memorable. The theaters in Yaroslavl are top-notch, providing an excellent setting for screening films.

    The opening event was truly special. We were introduced and welcomed on a huge red carpet, where the wonderful people of Yaroslavl were cheering us on, along with news and media representatives.

    I was especially happy that our sport drama family film, "FlipTurn," won the People’s Choice Award and Best Screenplay.

    The festival not only highlights love and faithfulness in its film selections, but also features business and social events, including master classes for filmmakers and actors, making it a comprehensive and enriching experience for everyone involved.

    I highly recommend filmmakers and movie lovers to participate in this wonderful film festival and experience the beautiful and historical city of Yaroslavl.

    Thank you, Within the Family International Film Festival, for such an unforgettable experience!

    August 2024
    Helpful