Despite complications due to the coronavirus pandemic, Russia will take part the Cannes Film Festival. The Russian Pavilion will open on July 6 at Village International and traditionally represents Russia at the Festival and the Marché du Film market being the main information center for promoting Russian cinema on an international scale.
The Pavilion will become a place of offline discussions, presentations, and networking of Russian companies with their foreign partners. Online events will also be held at the Russian Pavilion for those who are not able to reach the festival because of the epidemiological situation. The Pavilion will serve as a meeting point for the Russian participants of the official program of the Festival with press representatives.
In the official program of the Cannes Film Festival, Russia is represented by two films. In one of those films, Russia acted as a co-production partner. Two Russian films have also been selected for the Un Certain Regard program. Russian projects are also listed for the L’Atelier section in the CineFoundation program, for La Semaine de la Critique and the Cannes XR competition at the Marché du Film.
Olga Lubimova, Minister of Culture of Russia: “Russian presence at the famous festival in Cannes will be profound; national projects can be found at different sections of the official program of the Festival. Russian presence at the Marché du Film market at the virtual ROSKINO stand is also truly remarkable. This platform will become the main site of cooperation between industry representatives and international partners. This is all very important for worldwide promotion and creating cultural and business ties on the international level.”
Evgenia Markova, CEO of ROSKINO: “If earlier Russian presence at Cannes was defined by a few artists, this year we see a new wave of creators representing our film industry in a range of different formats: from full-length films to animation series made with innovative VR-technology. Russian participation at the Cannes Film Festival and the Marché du Film market this year has a special meaning and importance. That’s why ROSKINO and the Ministry of Culture put much effort into helping the most diverse projects be present at Cannes.”
POWERFUL PROJECTS
The Russian presence at the Festival will be broadened by joining traditional programs of the Cannes film market. As part of the Animation Day that takes place on July 11 at Marché du Film, ROSKINO will hold an Animation Works-in-Progress-Russia presentation. Six animation projects in development will be presented: “The Formula of Water” by Oleg Asadulin (SMF/Soyuzmultfilm), “Teddy Boom” by Denis Chernov (Riki Group), “Finnick” by Denis Belov and Ilia Kupriyanov (Riki Group), “The Snow Queen 5” by Alexei Tsitsilinand and Andrey Korenkov (Wizart), “The Warrior Princess” by Alexei Tsitsilin and Alexei Zamyslov (Wizart), “The Nutcracker” and “The Magic Flute” by George Gitis (СТВ). Evgenia Markova, CEO of ROSKINO, will moderate the discussion.
ROSKINO traditionally acts as a partner of the Producers Network official program of Marché du Film. Every year more than 500 producers from 100 countries across the world present their projects with international potential that are open to co-financing and co-production. A Producers Network brunch with a focus on Russia is planned for July 12, both offline and online. Five Russian producers are taking part, including Victoria Lupik, Marina Naumova, Polina Schlicht, Anna Shalashina, and Tamara Bogdanova.
Russian film companies at Marché du Film will be united by the virtual ROSKINO stand RUSSIAN CONTENT WORLDWIDE. The virtual booth this year will become the main platform for promoting Russian cinema on the international market. Foreign partners will be able to get acquainted with the newest Russian projects available for international sales and co-production; leading Russian production companies; and Russian projects in development with the biggest festival potential, carefully selected for international festival curators and companies interested in the distribution of independent content. Art Pictures Distribution, Central Partnership, All Media, Russian World Vision, Mirsand Ltd., Mosfilm, Planeta Inform, etc., – overall, more than 30 production and distribution studios will be presented, showing off more than 60 projects.