The monograph tells about the birth of the festival movement in cinema as a socio-cultural and political institution; on the formation and development of the festival movement in Russia (USSR); on the practice of Russian festivals at all levels; on the main activities of the festivals and the methods of their work to promote films to the viewer; on national film awards, mechanisms and the procedure for awarding them; about innovations in the work of film festivals that expand the range of their own capabilities, decorating the traditional forms of their holding.