There is a "Prophet" in his homeland: Golden Eagles were distributed at Mosfilm

Amid jokes about puberty and the accompaniment of a symphony orchestra, the expert Council of the National Cinematography Award presented the winners with precious and coveted Golden Eagles. The ceremony was traditionally held in the first pavilion of Mosfilm. The main confrontation unfolded between the films "August" and "The Prophet. The Story of Alexander Pushkin". Felix Umarov's film won in terms of the number of statuettes, but the war drama by Nikita Vysotsky and Ilya Lebedev was recognized as the best film. Izvestia visited the ceremony and congratulated the winners.

For his contribution to Russian cinema

The Golden Eagle, as usual, begins the secular year and for the 24th time gathers all the stars of Russian cinema. An hour and a half before the ceremony, the first guests began arriving at Mosfilm. They had to make their way through the snow. The women fussily adjusted their hairstyles, brushed off the snow flakes from their dresses, and the men covered their bare shoulders with jackets.

Andrei Merzlikin, Svetlana Druzhinina, Sergey Bezrukov and Anna Mathison, Alexander and Ekaterina Strizhenov, Alexey German, Anton Zlatopolsky, Konstantin and Sofia Ernst walked along the red carpet under the blinding flashes of cameras.

The flow of guests did not stop, despite the almost 20-degree frost. Therefore, the ceremony began half an hour after the official time, when the hosts of the evening, Milos Bikovic and Julia Peresild, appeared on the stage. The actress recalled that she had already received the Golden Eagle twice for her work in films and the third for a space flight. While Bikovich appeared at the award only as a presenter, which, of course, he now regrets. The actor was reminded of the absence of the "eagle" all evening.

Olga Lyubimova, the Minister of Culture of Russia, who came on stage to the presenters, read out a congratulatory message from Russian President Vladimir Putin. Then there was the saddest and most touching part of the ceremony. The presenters reminded who the Russian cinema lost in 2025. These are dozens of talented actors, directors, composers, and artists, including Valentina Talyzina, Igor Krasko, Nina Gulyaeva, Tigran Keosayan, Vladimir Simonov, and Igor Zolotovitsky.

People's Artist of Russia, screenwriter and director Alexander Adabashyan received the Golden Eagle for his contribution to Russian cinema from Olga Lyubimova.

— I was coming here on an adventure. A fancy Chinese car got stuck in a snowdrift in front of my entrance, but then a second one appeared and drove me," the master said from the stage to the cheers of the audience. — My contribution to this award is very relative. All acting is the work of an apprentice with very good masters. And I was lucky at the masters.

Between a rap musical and a war drama

The main confrontation unfolded between Felix Umarov's painting "The Prophet. The Story of Alexander Pushkin" and the film "August" directed by Nikita Vysotsky and Ilya Lebedev. Both films were presented in key nominations: if "August" claimed 12 awards, then "The Prophet" claimed all 14 of the 14 possible ones.

Both films were also presented in the main nomination "Best Film". Together with them, the comedy "Batya 2. Grandfather", the fantastic drama "Kraken" and the tragic story of two brothers "Summer will end".

Only in terms of the number of statuettes, having overtaken the military drama of Vysotsky and Lebedev by one award, the film by young director Felix Umarov about Alexander Pushkin became a triumph.

— I didn't expect it, to be honest. I am very happy. This is a big event for me. I remember myself as a little boy who once dreamed of making movies. And I could not imagine that I would find myself here, among such amazing people and artists. When the nominees were announced, I was at home. I looked at the list and thought: "Oh my God, do we have all 14 nominations?" It was a great shock, surprise and pride for our cinema for me," Umarov said in an interview with Izvestia.

"The Prophet" won the Golden Eagles for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Sergey Gilev), Best Supporting Actress (Anna Chipovskaya), as well as for Best Production Designer (Alexey Paderin, Sergey Zaikov), Best Costume Designer (Tatiana Patrakhaltseva) and the best work of a sound engineer (Alexey Samodelko).

His direct competitor and the main film of the year is the picture "August" based on the novel by Vladimir Bogomolov. The literary source had a difficult cinematic fate: they tried to make the book into a film several times, but the author did not like the script. As a result, the first successful film was released only in 2001, where the role of Captain Pavel Alekhine was phenomenally played by Evgeny Mironov.

At this ceremony, Sergei Bezrukov, who played the same role in the film August, held the Golden Eagle as the best actor in a feature film and thanked Mironov from the stage.

In addition to Bezrukov, Nikita Kologrivy and Pavel Tabakov were also named the best actors.

— The emotions are amazing. I am grateful to my colleagues, Sergey Vitalievich. What can I say? This is the beginning of my journey. I hope that this award will not overshadow my sick imagination and I will continue to work hard and diligently. I am very pleased that I had the honor to play Evgeny Tamantsev. After all, in the Soviet Union it was a straight action movie, a very cool detective. I am very glad that I was able to participate in this story and live it," Kologrivy told Izvestia.

Pavel Tabakov only managed to get to Mosfilm in time for the finale — he stayed late for the performance, which his colleagues kindly reproached him for.

In addition, August won the Eagles for Best Cinematography (Maxim Shinkorenko), best Film Music (Dmitry Yemelyanov), best Film Editing (Ilya Lebedev) and best Visual Effects (Online VFX Studio).

Family contract

Another triumph is in the series "Plevako" directed by Anna Mathison. The film about the legendary lawyer, played by Anna's husband Sergey Bezrukov, won three awards out of three possible ones, namely: best online series, best male and best female roles (Olga Lerman).

It is symbolic that the winners in these nominations were announced by lawyer Pavel Astakhov, who also starred in "Plevako" as a judge.

"The lawyer handed the eagle to the lawyer,— Sergei Bezrukov joked from the stage. — What can I say? A successful marriage. "Plevako" received "Nika", "TEFI" and three "eagles". Everyone goes to the family.

Another favorite of the public and the National Film Academy is the film "Atom" directed by Nurbek Egen. The film won prizes in the nominations "Best TV series", "Best Male role on Television" (Alexey Guskov), "Best Female role on Television" (Ekaterina Klimova).

Elena Lyadova's work in the film "The First on Olympus" was recognized as the best female role in cinema, and Svetlana Muzychenko's "The Way" was recognized as the best non—fiction film. The Golden Eagle for the animated film Bulgakov went to Stanislav Sokolov, and Arsen Aristakesyan was named the best short film.