Iran's People's Child Wins Best Feature at BRICS+ Fest
The BRICS+ International Film Festival, held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, named the Iranian film the top feature-length winner.
Updated on Nov. 6, 2026 in Foreign
The BRICS+ International Film Festival named Iran's People's Child Best Feature-Length Film, a story of an orphaned teenager who sets out to find his family. India's Happan Saangwala was named Best Short Film at the festival, held from October 29 to November 3 in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Why it matters
The award places an Iranian feature and an Indian short among the festival's top honors, drawing attention to films from BRICS and partner countries that receive less exposure in Western markets. Results were announced at a TASS press conference, giving the outcome wide coverage in Russian media.
The festival drew 327 film submissions from 22 countries across its competition, and the winners were named in a TASS press conference by executive producer Victoria Lukina. The source does not report box office, viewership, or budget figures for the winning films.
The players
TASS
TASS is the Russian state news agency that hosted the press conference announcing the festival's winners.
Jayita Ghosh
Jayita Ghosh is an Indian filmmaker who chaired the festival's international jury and presented a certificate of merit to the Russian-Indian film Snow Flower.
The details
Other honors included St. Petersburg Beneath the Heavens for Best Feature-Length Documentary, Three Sisters for Best Short Documentary, and the Brazilian short Ybi for originality of artistic vision. Special prizes went to the Iranian films God of War and The Calm Man, and the Vietnamese film Zero Meets Hero was honored for its treatment of intergenerational memory.
Timeline
October 29 to November 3, 2026: BRICS+ International Film Festival held in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
November 6, 2026: Winners announced at a TASS press conference.
Industry Dynamics
The BRICS+ International Film Festival, held in Moscow and St. Petersburg, offers a competition platform for films from BRICS member and partner countries outside the Hollywood-centered festival circuit. Its 2026 edition, with 327 submissions from 22 countries, shows the event drawing entries from a broad range of national cinemas.
Viewers outside Russia and the festival circuit have no release dates, distributors, or streaming platforms reported for the winning films in the source. Access to these titles will depend on future distribution deals that the source does not describe.
The takeaway
The festival's results show that films from Iran, India, Brazil, and Vietnam received top honors in a single competition, highlighting the range of work circulating through BRICS-linked festivals. Readers interested in these films should watch for announced distribution, since the source reports no release plans.
Further reading
Explore more international cinema in the Foreign section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by TASS.
