Russia (bbabo.net), - The first major film market of the year EFM, which traditionally takes place within the framework of the International Berlin Film Festival, has completed its work. This year, we recall, the market, unlike the 72nd Berlinale, was held online. On the same day, February 16, at a face-to-face meeting with the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Olga Lyubimova, Evgenia Markova, CEO of the company, reported both on the work done in the content market and on what happened over the year, and discussed plans for the future.
We started with the Russian Film Festival project - Russian cinema is shown on the leading streaming platforms in different countries. Roskino, according to Markova, held the Russian Film Festival project in 23 countries in 2020-2021, which contributed to the formation of a positive opinion about Russia and our films among foreign viewers.
The CEO of Roskino said that since the start of the project in November 2020, the Russian Film Festival has reached more than one million viewers. At the same time, one can note the huge coverage in India - more than 688 thousand people. Also among the leaders are South Korea, Australia, Spain.
"We are changing the perception of Russian content, in addition, we are changing the perception of Russia among local residents. According to our surveys, 30% of respondents said that they began to relate to Russia better after watching the festival program, and 25% wanted to come to Russia," Markova said.
She also said that the number of projects and events where Roskino represented the Russian industry increased by 2.5 times compared to 2020 (and doubled in 2020 compared to 2019). Thus, the number of international events where the Russian industry was represented increased from eight to 42. An important step was the launch of a single export brand Russian Content Worldwide (RCW) - this is how the Russian industry is represented today at all key film markets and industrial events.
One of the important directions of the company is the market of Russian content Key Buyers Event. This year, two face-to-face events are planned - to bring leading international content buyers to Moscow, as well as to gather regional buyers in Latin America - today this region is one of the key for the industry.
The head of Roskino added that from 2021, at the request of the film industry, in particular, festival selectors, the company began to actively work with international festivals. For the first time, the Focus on Festivals initiative was presented as part of the Key Buyers Event, thanks to which 20% of the submitted films were selected for world film screenings - these are the films "Draw" (directed by Lena Lanskikh), "Off-season" (Alexander Hunt), "Good girls get into paradise" (Dmitry Meskhiev), "Nika" (Vasilisa Kuzmina and Alexander Andryushchenko). As part of the European Film Market, festival selectors were presented with the second Focus on Festivals catalog, which includes 14 projects at different stages of readiness: both ready-made (already finished) and work in progress (those that are still in work).
Evgenia Markova also said that, according to foreign buyers, Russian filmmakers consistently demonstrate good quality films. In addition, film scripts and marketing of Russian content have improved significantly over the past three years.
Work continues to promote Russian names, increase the recognition of actors and directors in the international market. The development of educational initiatives is also an important area of work for Roskino.
As for plans, in 2022 Roskino will continue to hold film weeks and participate in film markets and the Russian Seasons program. It is assumed that the geography of events will be expanded - compared to 2021.
Meanwhile
One of the upcoming content markets where Roskino will work - Marché du Film (traditionally held as part of the Cannes Film Festival) is changing its head. Guillaume Esmiol has been appointed co-executive director of the Marché du Film. This year he will work in tandem with the former director of the Cannes Film Market, Jérôme Paillard. And next year, 2023, Esmiol will finally replace Paillard and remain the sole director of the Marché du Film.
bbabo.Net