Cinema, college and career: "Antares" showed how to choose a profession and find a job

From September 13 to 18, at the Moscow Festival Center, as part of the III International Film Festival “Antares,” dedicated to the diversity of professions, the Festival of Professions was held — a joint project of the film festival and Technological College No. 21, under the leadership of German Alexandrovich Gavrilov. The venue brought together college students, graduates, and everyone who has been thinking about choosing a path. Admission was free.

“Antares” is a film festival that has always spoken about the working person, about the professions that shape everyday life and the future. The Festival of Professions became a logical continuation of this idea: here a profession ceased to be an abstraction on screen and turned into a living conversation, a gathering point for hundreds of people. The college offered specific routes for obtaining specialties, employers — real vacancies and internships, and universities — opportunities to continue education.

German Alexandrovich Gavrilov, director of Technological College No. 21, says: “The Festival of Professions is our initiative. We wanted not just to tell about specialties, but to give every young person the chance to see a profession in the leading role and understand: this role could become his own. ‘Antares’ supported the idea, and together we made it so that cinema, college, and employer speak with young people in the same language.”

Galina Vladimirovna Chemodanova, head of the Career Center of the Moscow State Budgetary Professional Educational Institution “Technological College No. 21,” shared her opinion: “The Festival of Professions at the ‘Antares’ venue became for us more than a job fair. It was a living stage where a profession connected those who are only choosing a path and those who are already ready to offer work. The college showed where a profession can be obtained, the employer — why it is needed today, and cinema reminded us that behind every task stands a person. We at the Career Center of TC21 see our task as making sure this conversation does not end with the festival: so that a school student, a student, and an employer meet not for one day, but for an entire professional life. The red carpet these days was open to everyone — and this is an accurate metaphor: the working person is the main hero.”

Every day from 10:00 to 18:00 several zones operated. At the Job Fair, more than twenty companies — from the Botanical Garden and Gosfilmofond to Rostec, Rosgvardiya, Maison Dellos, X5 Retail Group, and Chekhoff Hotel Moscow — spoke about their areas, staffing needs, and working conditions. At the Education Fair, colleges (TC 21, KP 11, KIGM23, MGOK, PK Ovchinnikova) and universities (Synergy, RUDN, MosGU, RSSU, MGRI, MMU, Prosveshchenie University) presented study programs. In the Training Lounge, master classes and workshops were held: “Resume of a Young Specialist,” “Emotional Intelligence and Effective Communication,” “Metrics of the Future: Demand and Competitiveness,” “First 100 Days in the Workplace.” On the Main Stage, employer self-presentations, expert talks, and discussions were held.

A special format was the career route. Organized groups of students were divided into streams and sequentially passed through four points: “Casting” (introduction to job openings and internships), “Educational Scenario” (choosing an educational institution), “Career Director” (consultations from the Career Center and a photo zone on the red carpet), and the “Main Stage” (business program). Thus, in two hours one could see the entire trajectory: from interest in a profession to understanding where to study and where to go to work.

The culmination was round tables: “Specialist 2030: Professions and Competencies of the Future,” “The Working Person in Focus: Professions That Shape the Future.” They were attended by employers, teachers, students, and experts. And on September 18, the closing day of the Festival of Professions, TC 21 signed cooperation agreements with the Antares Film Festival — another step toward making the bridge between education and one’s life’s work stronger.

Andrey Afrin, director of the International Film Festival “Antares,” says: “We created Antares not as another festival, but as a tool that returns to the screen and to the public field the real hero — the working person. A film festival dedicated to professions is only half the story. The other half is to give a young person not just to see a profession, but to try it by touch: to learn where to study, who will need you tomorrow, and what stands behind the word ‘work.’ That is why the Festival of Professions within Antares became a fundamentally important step for us. We do not hand out awards to gather dust — we give a start in life, and this project is a direct continuation of our mission.”

Another point of attraction at the venue was the “Made by Moscow Colleges” shop — a showcase of students’ real work. Here one could see and purchase what young masters had created with their own hands: original textiles, souvenirs, printed materials, wooden products. In the “Tolstoy Diaries” line — tote bags, T-shirts, notebooks, and diaries with rare quotes from Leo Tolstoy. In the summer collection — embroidered textiles, shaped candles, and soap. This brand appeared in 2026, and within a year students of the capital’s colleges produced more than 20,000 items — from benches and furniture for schools to original clothing collections. Thus the festival showed the main thing: a profession is not a line in a résumé, but a thing you can take in your hands.

The red carpet, usually intended for stars, was open to everyone these days. Photographs on it became a metaphor for recognition: the working person is the main hero. The Festival of Professions has ended, but its philosophy remains: a profession is not just a job, it is a relationship between a person and the world, between skill and need, between dream and reality. And the more such venues there are, where cinema, college, and employer speak the same language, the smaller the gap between education and life.