Dreams of the future: registration for the video essay contest at the National Centre RUSSIA extended until 27 April

Registration for the Second Season of the All-Russian video essay contest "Dreams of the Future" has been extended at the National Centre RUSSIA. The project engages the younger generation in research, creative and innovative activities, giving young people the opportunity to share their vision of the future. Registration is now open until 27 April, while submissions will be accepted until 30 April.

Teams of three participants from regions of Russia, CIS countries, and Transnistria are invited to take part in two age categories: junior (12–15) and senior (16–18). More than 1,000 participants from 57 regions of the Russian Federation have already registered, as well as participants from Transnistria, Moldova, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. 

According to the contest rules, participating teams must prepare a video on one of the proposed themes: "Science Unites", "Technology and Nature", "The Future Is Built Today", or "Space". A mandatory requirement is to combine AI-generated content with live footage featuring all team members. The video should be between 1 and 3 minutes long. The video essay must be published on the team’s VKontakte page, after which a link should be uploaded to the personal account on the official website of the contest.

). After moderation, the video essays will be submitted to an expert jury. The jury will include well-known science fiction writers and experts in media, culture, science and AI technologies. They will evaluate the entries based on the following criteria: relevance to the chosen theme, quality of video, sound and editing, originality of presentation, artistic performance, quality of AI integration, and references to science fiction literature, games and films.

The contest opens up limitless opportunities for creativity: participants can present their vision of a desired future, reinterpret the plots of favourite science fiction books, or challenge the ideas of renowned authors. Additional points will be awarded for references to works from the recommended reading list.

The winners will be announced on 7 June at an award ceremony at the National Centre RUSSIA. Winners and prize-winners will receive valuable prizes: a laptop for first place, a tablet for second place, and a smartphone for third place. A special prize from the Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, Natalia Virtuozova, is a trip to one of the National Centre RUSSIA branches for all members of the winning team.

In 2025, 792 teams took part in the All-Russian contest "Dreams of the Future", representing 4,000 participants from 89 regions of the country. Twenty teams became finalists of the first contest.

The All-Russian video essay contest "Dreams of the Future" continues efforts to revive public interest in imagining the future, launched at the International Symposium "Inventing the Future". The contest is held as part of the Decade of Science and Technology with the support of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, the Russian State Library for Young Adults, the Council for Science Fiction and Adventure Literature of the Union of Writers of Russia, the Movement of the First, the Artek International Children’s Centre, the VCIOM Analytical Centre, the AI Institute of Lomonosov Moscow State University, the Coordination Council for Youth Affairs in Science and Education, the National Open Championship of Creative Competencies ArtMasters, the Association of Technology Circles Participants, ANO "Creative Economy", ANO "Innovation Centre for the Development and Education of Children and Youth", the Skolkovo Foundation, the All-Russian project "TopBLOG", ANO "Development of Artificial Intelligence Technologies", the Eksmo-AST Publishing Group, the YuF Reading Media, the Hedgehog Academy of Modern Professions, the Chitai-Gorod federal bookstore chain, the YARKO Animation Company, the Video Game Industry Development Organisation (RVI), and the NAUKA 0+ International Festival.