International Competition of Short Videos about Cities

The Moscow City Tourism Committee and HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL invite young directors, animators, cameramen, and other authors working with video to participate in the International Competition of Short Videos about Cities. The contest is organized on the platform of HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL and the Institute of Creative Industries Development "Creative City" in the framework of the forum-festival “Forum Moscow 2030 — The Home of the Future”.

Locations like points on the map, cities, and landscapes have often become central characters in the works of creators worldwide. In 1927, Dziga Vertov filmed “Man with a Movie Camera” capturing an urban portrait of a new era. David Lynch crafted a dreamlike landscape of Los Angeles in “Mulholland Drive” while contemporary video artists Teresa Hubbard and Alexander Birchler’s 2009 work “Grand Paris Texas” immerses viewers in Paris as a meta-place constructed with celluloid and soundtracks.

By joining our contest, you can help carry on this tradition! Create (draw, mold from plasticine, find on your old hard drive) and send us a video showcasing a city or any place that you consider the protagonist of your story. Your submission can be a documentary, a feature film, an animation, a tourist promo, a video essay, or even a vlog. There are no format restrictions, and no prior filming experience is required.

• The video should be 30 seconds to 3 minutes long
• The video quality must be at least Full HD (1920x1080)
• The format can be vertical or horizontal
• Add English subtitles or description
• Include two tags: "video" and the location your video is about, so it appears on the map.
• The number of projects submitted by one author is not restricted

• July 15 — the deadline of uploading the projects
• until July 15, 2024 — partners’ educational online program for the competition’s participants. The schedule of the events will be published at the competitions; s page, please, follow the updates.
• until July 19, 2024  — short-list selection
• until July 22, 2024  — international jury voting (10 finalists will be selected)
• until July 22, 2024 — the announcement of the voting results

Ten finalists selected by an international jury will have the chance to travel to Moscow. The competition organizers will cover accommodation and provide guided visits to significant cultural and historical attractions, city museums, and excursions to the leading creative universities in the Russian capital.

One winner will be chosen from the ten finalists. This winner will have the opportunity to create a short film about Moscow with the support of a professional team, with all filming and production costs fully covered.

• Аlexandra Persheeva — academic director of the “Contemporary Art” program at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, head of “History of Arts” chair. PhD in the History of Arts, researcher, film director, video artist.
• Ivan Tverdovskiy — creative director of the “Screen Arts” profile at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL. Film director, screenwriter, laureate of Russian and international film festivals, member of the European Film Academy.
• Polina Kampioni — curator of “Animation” profile at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL. Animation director, animator, participant and laureate of Russian and foreign animation festivals.
• Aleksei Riumin — professor of "Animation and Illustration" profile at HSE ART AND DESIGN SCHOOL, artist, multimedia designer, author of the project cycle in the genre of “paper architecture”, musical clips and videoart.  
• Tom Lisboa — a Brazilian photographer, pursuing a PhD in communication (Tuiutui University of Parana, Brazil), master in Photography and Urban Cultures (Goldsmiths, University of London, UK), master in Communications and Languages (Tuiutui University of Parana, Brazil).
• Zhang Hui — a leading scholar in the Design and Art discipline and the deputy dean of the School of Art and Design at Xi'an University of Technology. He is a member of the China Society of Higher Education, the deputy director of the photographic education committee, an online judge for the art programs of the China National Social Science Fund, and an appraisal expert for the China National Arts Fund.
• Vidhi Khandelwal — a distinguished expert in Animation and VFX education and the Head of the Department of Animation and Multimedia at Subharti University. In 2024, she received the National Excellent Researcher of the Year award for her research activities and teaching efforts.

International Competition of Short Videos about Cities WOWMOSCOW will take part in the framework of the forum-festival "Forum Moscow 2030 — The Home of the Future". The project will present the major innovations and achievements in all the city life spheres to Muscovites and guests. Cultural, sport, educational and many other events highlighting the development of one of the most modern world megapolises will take place at more than 30 festival venues from August 1 until September 8. The large-scale project will allow to simulate the image of the capital and to get a chance to see how it will look like in several years. Official site of the forum-festival: moscow2030.mos.ru.