"RT.Doc: Time of Our Heroes" festival at the RUSSIA EXPO will open with the premiere of the movie "Avdeevka. This Is What War Looks Like"

---

The International Documentary Film Festival "RT.Doc: Time of Our Heroes" will open with the premiere of the movie "Avdeevka. This Is What War Looks Like".

The festival, dedicated to the heroes of the special military operation, will be held from June 28 to 30 on the site of the International RUSSIA EXPO at VDNH.

"A low bow to all the heroes of the wonderful films that are included in the program of our festival, and in general to all those who are now defending our Motherland and our truth. We are proud of the guys and can't help but make movies about them. Come watch these movies at the RT festival. Let's work, brothers!" said RT editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan.

Attendance at the festival events is free. Pre-registration is open on the website. The main screenings will take place on June 29-30.

The opening ceremony will feature a musical and poetry program with participation of People's Artist of the Russian Federation Larisa Dolina, the Zveroboy band, poets Anna Dolgareva, Anna Revyakina, Olga Starushko, Vlad Malenko, Dmitry Filippov, Dmitry Melnikov, Dinara Kerimova, the Symphony Orchestra of neoclassical composer Igor Skvortsov and other performers and poets.

The festival program includes 13 films about the heroes of the special military operation — fighters and military medics, front and rear volunteers, war correspondents and all those who stand in defense of the Motherland. The audience will see films by documentary filmmakers from federal channels and independent journalists.

The premiere movie "Avdeevka. This Is What War Looks Like" by RT documentary filmmaker Olga Kiriy and director Abas Ali-Zadeh is based on the poignant stories of Avdeevka residents. The audience is introduced to the heroes of the film by Yuri, an EMERCOM rescuer who pulled people out of the destroyed cellars of Avdeevka. Now they consider him a guardian angel. Each of the novellas is preceded by poems written by poets of Donbass, performed by People's Artists of Russia Vladimir Mashkov, Larisa Dolina and Evgeny Knyazev.

"We came under fire twice when, in addition to the main filming, we traveled to addresses and searched for people whose relatives from Russia had turned to us for help. For several years, many had no contact with their relatives. We found an elderly woman and informed her daughter from Yakutia that her mom was alive. This unforgettable meeting was also included in our movie!" says the author Olga Kiriy.

There will be several more premiere screenings at the festival. The author and director Oleg Nekishev has made a sequel to the movie about the anti-fascist caravan uniting European activists and volunteers. Public figures express support and provide assistance to the residents of Donbass. The main characters of the movie "Caravan of Anti-Fascists. Spanish Rhapsody" were activists from Spain.

"The Movie about the Iron Man" is a film of the author Elena Norkunaite and director Abas Ali-Zadeh about a resident of Crimea with indomitable willpower: after a serious injury, he lost both legs, but did not lose faith in himself.

Klim Poplavsky's new work "White's Orchestra" is a chronicle of the liberation of the town of Avdeevka. The film immerses the viewer in the epicenter of the battle and gives the opportunity to be in a unique historical moment — after the capture of the slag heap and before entering the Avdeevka dachas.

The business program will include discussions and round tables with experts, creators and heroes of the films. As part of the business program events, there will be discussions and round tables with experts, creators, and film heroes. An open meeting with war correspondents titled "Military Reporters: 2 Years on the Frontline" will take place, as well as a panel discussion on "Military Documentaries" featuring documentarians Maxim Fadeev and Sergei Belous. A conversation about changes in society and Russia's place on the political map of the world is scheduled with journalist and TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov "Russia Today — Conversation About the Essentials". Boris Korchevnikov, Director General of the TV channel "SPAS", will take part in a round table discussion on the importance of faith in war.

For more information about the program and registration, please visit the official website of the festival.