17/06/2002 - The limp Russian Bear versus the Bald Eagle

«If the Russian film industry is to return to the filmmaking pre-eminence it enjoyed under the Soviet regine, it has to start making 150 films per year. At least,» said producer, Karen Shakhnazarov, the CEO of Mosfilm, in an interview with Reuters. Mosfilm, along with almost every other film production company operating in the former Soviet Union, is in serious financial trouble.
«The main reason is that there is no international appeal in Russian films, so we have to rely on the home market entirely and very rarely manage to recover even the costs,» said Ministry for Culture spokesman, Igor Kallistov. «Our films don´t get released even when they are potential hits because distributing just one costs the equivalent of $1mn when you can buy the Russian distribution rights to an American film for just $200,000.»
The quota of the Russian market occupied by national productions has fallen to a paltry 7% and just 3% if only privately-managed theatres are considered.
« Russian films have virtually no chance against American blockbusters as exemplified by a patriotic love story called Zvezda - Star, touted as Russia´s Film of the Year. On paper. Unfortunately, it was released against the latest Star Wars. «We managed to get it released thanks to the excellent relations we enjoy with distributors,» said Shakhnazarov.