By Vestnik Kavkaza
Russian cinema experts have different views on regional cinema. Some think it is not sophisticated enough, others are sure that our future lies with it. Mark Rudinstein, producer, cinema critic, actor, Kinotavr Film Festival founder, says that “films cannot be regional, movies can be bad or good. So I believe setting a task of “shooting a film which is typical for this city” means killing the idea. We should set a task of establishing a local cinema industry.”
Meanwhile, Sergey Zernov, the director of the Gorky Film Studio, told Vestnik Kavkaza that even though the state support of cinema is focused in Moscow, “regions are not isolated from the support… The Ministry of Culture pays significant attention to regional initiatives.”
According to Zernov, “it would be great if local authorities paid serious attention to it, as federal support and federal budget money are one thing, while regional money is a different thing.”
Zernov thinks that Yakutia is a good example of regional cinema development, as cinema “is very popular there and more popular than Hollywood films.”
“I think every region has a chance at least to raise the question of shooting regional films,” Zernov said.
“Of course in Soviet times it was easier, because almost every region had its own ethnic film studio. Today there are no such studios. However, the technology of filmmaking is so advanced that a big studio is not necessary to start a new interesting regional project. I know that the Yekaterinburg Studio supports regions actively. Khanty-Mansisk has a studio, as well as Yakutsk. They could help other regions. I think regions should be more active in their desires to implement creative projects,” Zernov thinks.
“We consider applies for scenarios, synopses and treatments. One can apply in any form, we will certainly consider them… I went to Seliger, where young people from all over the country gathered. It was very interesting, as there was a group of people who write scripts for TV and cinema. They had a lot of questions, ideas, and we agreed on cooperation with regional authors. The prospects are great, as regions are interested in it,” Zernov said.
