Nika Award

The Nika Award is the main annual national film award in Russia presented by the Russian Academy of Cinema Arts and Science. It was established in 1987 in Moscow by Yuli Gusman, and ostensibly modelled on the Oscars. The Russian Academy Award takes its name from Nike, the goddess of victory. Accordingly, the prize is modelled after the sculpture of the Winged Victory of Samothrace.

The oldest professional film award in Russia, the Nika Award was established during the final years of USSR by the influential Union of Filmmakers.

At first the awards were judged by all the members of the Union of Filmmakers. In the early 1990s, a special academy, consisting of over 500 academicians, was elected for distributing the awards which recognize outstanding achievements in cinema (not television) produced in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 2002 Nikita Mikhalkov established the competing Golden Eagle Award modelled on the Golden Globe Awards as it honors both film and television production of Russia.

The Nika Awards ceremony is broadcast annually and attracts huge publicity across Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States.

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