| Location | Moscow, Soviet Union |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1959 |
| Awards | Grand Prix |
| Festival date | 7–21 July 1981 |
| Website | http://www.moscowfilmfestival.ru |
The 12th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 7 to 21 July 1981.[1] The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Brazilian film O Homem que Virou Suco directed by João Batista de Andrade, the Vietnamese film The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone directed by Nguyễn Hồng Sến and the Soviet-French-Swiss film Teheran 43 directed by Aleksandr Alov and Vladimir Naumov.
The following films were selected for the main competition:
| English title | Original title | Director(s) | Production country |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ali in Wonderland | Ali au pays des mirages | Ahmed Rachedi | Algeria |
| Al Qadisiyya | Al Qadisiyya | Salah Abu Seif | Iraq |
| Jeppe på bjerget | Jeppe pa bjerget | Kaspar Rostrup | Denmark |
| The Pale Light of Sorrow | Lumina palidă a durerii | Iulian Mihu | Romania |
| Der Bockerer | Der Bockerer | Franz Antel | Austria, West Germany |
| Brothers and Sisters | Brothers and Sisters | Richard Woolley | Great Britain |
| Temporary Paradise | Ideiglenes paradicsom | András Kovács | Hungary |
| O Homem que Virou Suco | O Homem que Virou Suco | João Batista de Andrade | Brazil |
| Gary Cooper, Who Art in Heaven | Gary Cooper, que estás en los cielos | Pilar Miró | Spain |
| Tree Dzhamal | Derevo Dzhamal | Khodzhakuli Narliev | Soviet Union |
| Diva | Diva | Jean-Jacques Beineix | France |
| Savage Breed | Razza selvaggia | Pasquale Squitieri | Italy |
| For Freedom! | For Freedom! | Ola Balogun | Nigeria, Great Britain |
| Yo Ho Ho | Yo Ho Ho | Zako Heskiya | Bulgaria |
| Bloody Season | Fasl-e khoon | Habib Kavosh | Iran |
| Muddy River | Doro no kawa | Kōhei Oguri | Japan |
| Belønningen | Belønningen | Bjørn Lien | Norway |
| Our Daughter | Notre fille | Daniel Kamwa | Cameroon, France |
| Our Short Life | Unser kurzes Leben | Lothar Warneke | East Germany |
| Kalyug | Kalyug | Shyam Benegal | India |
| The Moth | Ćma | Tomasz Zygadło | Poland |
| Night by the Seashore | Yö meren rannalla | Erkko Kivikoski | Finland |
| The Abandoned Field: Free Fire Zone | Cánh đồng hoang | Nguyễn Hồng Sến | Vietnam |
| Guardafronteras | Guardafronteras | Octavio Cortázar | Cuba |
| Sentimental | Sentimental (requiem para un amigo) | Sergio Renán | Argentina |
| Peacetime in Paris | Sezona mira u Parizu | Predrag Golubović | Yugoslavia, France |
| The Pretenders | De Pretenders | Jos Stelling | Netherlands |
| Seduction | La seducción | Arturo Ripstein | Mexico |
| Escape to Victory | Escape to Victory | John Huston | United States |
| Bikaya suar | Bikaya suar | Nabil Maleh | Syria |
| Teheran 43 | Tegeran 43 | Aleksandr Alov, Vladimir Naumov | Soviet Union, France, Switzerland |
| Trokadero | Trokadero | Klaus Emmerich | West Germany, Austria |
| Bye, See You Monday | Au revoir... à lundi | Maurice Dugowson | Canada, France |
| Morning Undersea | Manhã Submersa | Lauro António | Portugal |
| Pictures | Pictures | Michael Black | New Zealand |
| Khatan-Bator | Khatan-Bator | G. Jigjidsuren | Mongolia |
| The Charter Trip | Sällskapsresan | Lasse Åberg | Sweden |
| The Man with the Carnation | O anthropos me to garyfallo | Nikos Tzimas | Greece |
| Ta chvíle, ten okamžik | Ta chvíle, ten okamžik | Jiří Sequens | Czechoslovakia |
| El caso Huayanay | El caso Huayanay | Federico García | Peru |