Young teams from Russia and neighbouring countries share their dreams of the future in the video essay contest at the National Centre RUSSIA

The National Centre RUSSIA has completed the acceptance of applications for the II Video Essay Contest "Dreams of the Future". Young people aged 12–18 from Russia, CIS countries and Transnistria shared their vision of the future through short video works. In total, 3,740 participants — or 935 teams — took part in the competition, representing all 89 regions of Russia as well as 10 neighbouring republics: Uzbekistan, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.

The winning entries will be announced on 7 June during an official awards ceremony at the National Centre RUSSIA. To participate in the contest, teams of three people in the junior (12–15 years old) and senior (16–18 years old) categories prepared short video essays. Teenagers picked one of the following main themes to explore: "Science Unites", "Technology and Nature", "The Future Is Built Today", "Space", or took part in the special nomination from the Skolkovo Foundation and the nomination named "Readers' Choice" (a nomination organised by the Chitai-Gorod federal bookstore chain, the reading media outlet UF (Youth), and the Hedgehog Academy.

To meet the rules of the contest, participants combined AI-generated content with live-action footage featuring all members of the team. Despite the short running time of one to three minutes, the contestants managed to fill their video essays with profound meaning, raise important issues and enter into dialogue with masters of science fiction literature. For example, the team named "Sea Inside" from Sevastopol turned to Alexander Belyaev's novel "Professor Dowell's Head" and reminded viewers how dangerous progress can become when detached from compassion and morality. Schoolgirls from the Republic of Moldova, united in the team called "Solaris" and inspired by Stanisław Lem's iconic novel, presented the video essay "Orbit 'Back Home'" — about the fact that memory and attachment to one's native planet are what make us human. Meanwhile, the team "Code of the Future" from the Krasnodar Territory not only created a vision of the future inspired by the books written by Kir Bulychev and the Strugatsky brothers, but also posed the question: what can children change in the adult world?

The submitted works will be evaluated by an expert jury comprising renowned science fiction writers and specialists in media, culture, science and AI technologies. The judging criteria include relevance to the selected 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. Teams will receive additional points for references to works included in the recommended reading list.

The best works will be announced on 7 June during the official awards 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 Natalia Virtuozova, Director General of the National Centre RUSSIA, will be a trip to one of the National Centre RUSSIA branches for all members of the winning team.

Within its nomination, the Skolkovo Foundation has prepared a special technological prize from among its own developments for teams entering the top 20, as well as an online educational course for teams selected through the overall evaluation process. One winning senior team in the second special nomination – “Readers' Choice” – will receive a certificate worth 60,000 roubles for products from the Chitai-Gorod federal bookstore chain; book sets from UF will be handed to participants from the two winning senior-category teams and three junior-category teams, while the Hedgehog Academy will award one month of free online classes to one team in the senior age category.

In 2025, 792 teams took part in the all-Russian competition "Dreams of the Future". This amounted to 4,000 participants from 89 regions of the country. Twenty teams became finalists of the first "Dreams of the Future" competition.

The video essay contest "Dreams of the Future" continues the effort to revive public interest in envisioning the future, first 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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs 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 Federal Foundation for Social and Economic Support of Russian Cinematography (Cinema Fund), Roskino, the Russian Union of Youth, the Artek International Children's Centre, the VCIOM Analytical Centre, the Coordination Council for Youth Affairs in Science and Education, the National Open Championship of Creative Competencies ArtMasters, the Association of Technology Clubs, the Creative Economy ANO, Nauka@Mail.ru, the Skolkovo Foundation, the TopBLOG national project, the Artificial Intelligence Technology Development ANO, the Media Laboratory, the Eksmo-AST Publishing Group, the UF reading media outlet, the Hedgehog Academy of Modern Professions, the federal bookstore chain Chitai-Gorod, the animation company YARKO, the Video Game Industry Development Organisation, and the International Festival NAUKA 0+. Information partners of the Contest include MIC Izvestia, the Mail News and Vfocuse Mail media projects, the 1MI media holding, News Media Holding, the popular science outlets Indicator.Ru and InScience.News, Techprosvet VKontakte, NOP.RF, Hitech, the magazine Nozh, and the News of the First.