The appearance of the Molodist film festival was planned to happen in 1962, when the Kyiv Institute of Theatrical Arts in the name of Karpenko-Kariy first introduced the department of Cinema Art. The natural attraction of young masters to the audience, the necessity for emotional impulse from the audience, and the necessity in conversation through the screen - all that made this great beginning successful and eternal.

A festival that built on this sort of conception does not have any chance to become old. That is probably the reason of its name: "Molodist" means "youth" in Ukrainian. Only one short notice in the newspaper "Na Ekranah Ukrainy" from October 31, 1970, which announced the first festival, said: "...the first Republican Festival of Student Films "Molodist" took place in Kyiv during two days. 33 films were shown. The Jury with Mykola Maschenko as the Head determined the best student films, presented diplomas and prizes".

The annual festival competition consists of three categories:

- student films (less than 45')
- first professional short (fiction, animation, documentary) films (less than 45')
- first professional full-length fiction (60' or more)

The festival also presents a non-competition program that may include any of the following elements:

Panorama of Ukrainian Cinema
Retrospectives of film schools and prominent filmmakers
Eastern European Panorama
Festival of Festivals Different Love