In 2023, the National Laurel Branch Award decided to suspend the competition in all traditional nominations. A single nomination “Cinema of the Future” was introduced, which considers the first films of young authors. 191 works were submitted for the competition in 2023. On October 24, a meeting of the jury of the first round took place, consisting of documentarians Marina Razbezhkina, Evgenia Ostanina, Victoria Belopolskaya, Andrei Gryazev, Alina Rudnitskaya, Denis Shabaev, Vitaly Mansky. Following the jury meeting, eight films were selected for the next stage of grand jury voting. The three finalists will be announced in early December.