21/11/2002 - Moscow's Pouchinski theatre hosts 3-day review of 7 recent Gallic productions including Blanche, Peau d'Ange and Novo

Today in Moscow Unifrance, the agency for the promotion of French cinema abroad, and the French Embassy in the Russian capital will inaugurate a three-day review featuring 7 recent Gallic productions. The screenings will be held in Moscow’s best cinema, the “Pouchinski” and the event will open with Blanche by Bernie Bonvoisin, scheduled for release onto 40 Russian screens on 22 November. The other titles are Embrassez qui vous voudrez by Michel Blanc, La Vie Promise by Olivier Dahan, Peau d’Ange by Vincent Perez, A la folie, pas du tout by Laetitia Colombani, Novo by Jean-Pierre Limosin and Monique by Valérie Guignabodet, and each director will be at the screening of his or her film.
According to Unifrance “French films are popular in Russia. The Russian buy an average of 100 titles annually and French films attracted 1.5 million Russian filmgoers in 2000, 2.4 million in 2001 and at on 31 October 2002, over 2 million tickets had been sold to a Gallic production.” The number of French films getting a theatrical release in Russia is also growing exponentially: 24 came out in 2000, 26 in 2001 and 30 in the first six months of 2002.
This data seems to indicate that cinema in Russia has weathered the recent crisis and is enjoying new vigour. In the late seventies, over 2 billion tickets were sold to films but that dropped to just 30 million twenty years later. In 2001, some 60 million film tickets were sold in Russia.

(Translated from French)