From September 4-8, the capital of Tatarstan is hosting the XXII Kazan International Altyn Minbar Film Festival. In terms of the number of countries participating and the films submitted, this year is expected to be a banner one. Apart from the official selection, the audience is awaited by the non-competition program.

Under the initiative of the President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, 2026 is announced the Year of the United Nations of Russia. One of the Altyn Minbar’s programs is called Diverse Russia: documentary panorama. It will present 10 films about unique regions of the country, their traditions, culture, and care for the ancestors’ heritage.

All documentaries are multiple award-winners of different international film festivals and marked not only by the experts but also won the hearts of the audience as well. For instance, the Chechen filmmaker Kharon Khidaev’s The Road to Temple is the award winner of the XI Golden Tower International Film Festival.

Ethnika by Amiran Alborov and Alan Alborov raises the issue of preserving the Ossetian language that in 2009 UNESCO recognized as endangered. The authors conclude that nowadays the situation is much worse. What if there is just inspiration that is the only way to preserve something that is on the verge of extinction?

In her article Mama, ani, anne (Mother in Russian, Tatar, and Turkish) shows the way people of different roots live in a remote place among fields and river valleys. They sing, pray, and dance—each in his/her native language. They preserve not only the culture but also that thin thread connecting us. The film explores the idea of the co-existence of different nations and their cultures (the Chuvash, Tatars, Mordva, and Russians) in the Barysh district of the Ulyanovsk region.

The Traditions Keepers by Radik Ismailov tells about the unique traditions of Dagestan, where the cultural and spiritual heritage of their ancestors is cherished with great love and passed on to the next generation.

The Carpets Speak by Darya Razumnikova and Artur Sokolov is devoted to the almost lost tradition of unique Ingush carpet weaving. In 1944, the Ingush people were deported, and their entire cultural heritage was lost. After 80 years passed, historian Tanzila Dzaurova revived the lost art of carpet weaving.

And in the village of Slavkovo in the Tver region, Valery Fomin set up his own museum of local lore at the library. The museum has become evidence of how a single person can stand against oblivion, patiently gathering a mosaic of the past and preserving a tangible image of a bygone era. Creation by Constantine Pesiannikov tells about this enthusiast.

Anna Koriakovtseva in her documentary Coastal Chukchi. A Siberian Tale dwells on the routine life of a small village on the shore of a cold northern sea. This film shows the traditions of the Chukchi, who make a life by hunting. And Irina Kaliuzhnaia in her documentary Atasikun. All together. It tells about one more northern nation—the Naukan Eskimos—and the way they preserve endangered language and their dance and song culture.

Like other northern people, the Komi-Permyaks went through a challenging school of survival in the tough conditions of the northern Cis-Urals. And the remaining citadel of this nation is culture kept by the Komi-Permyak theatre. Here lives the main treasure of these remarkable people – their language. This is what The Third Call by Alexey Romanov is about.

A sort of hunting for sounds and senses is Just Listen! by Olga Arlauskas and Svetlana Gorlo. Four episodes—four different regions. Each of them shows the way modern ethnic music is created—the very beginning and the final track. From this, one can understand why this music with the voices of our ancestors tingles through the soul.

The Altyn Minbar Film Festival is held under the unchanging motto “Through the dialogue of cultures – to the culture of dialogue.” The official selection program will be screened at Korston cinema from September 4-8, and the non-competition screenings will be at Mir cinema, where the audience will be able to communicate with the filmmakers at Q&A sessions.