The Russian pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival held a presentation of the National Film Commission, a new body created to support Russian film production and film promotion. Igor Kallistov, head of the Cinematography Department at the Ministry of Culture, spoke to our correspondent about the aims of this commission.
– The idea behind the creation of the National Film Commission is to integrate Russian cinematography into the world film industry, to help make our international relations in this are more substantive and continual and, most importantly, to create an effective platform. The National Film Commission will become a sort institutional organization composed of the federal and regional commissions. And the regional will bear most of the functional responsibilities.
At the federal level, the commission will act as a coordinating body. The resources of the Russian Federation for creating conditions conducive to film production are used very poorly today. After all, we have wonderful natural areas, historic landscapes and cityscapes, and colossal human resources for participating in film production. These opportunities of our country, I dare say, go almost unused. And thus this hinders the development of cinematography in Russia’s regions.
We have film studios in the regions that are part of Moscow-based structures, in Kazan, West Siberia, Rostov and elsewhere. But, generally speaking, these are simply newsreel studio. They are horribly equipped: antediluvian technology in dilapidated buildings. Of course, this infrastructure needs to be restored and developed. And we believe that attracting foreign film production groups will make regional authorities pay more attention to film production as a business. But to attract film production groups, it is necessary to first have sufficient information about the existing film production capacities.
Regional film commissions should provide information to foreign filmmakers about the conditions in Russia: where transport is available, where equipped filming platforms are located, where military resources are situated and, to say the least, where appropriate dining and hospitality services are available.
– Who will be on the regional film commissions?
– First of all, representatives of federal authorities in the region and, of course, the filmmakers themselves. In some regions we have branches of the Cinematographers Union while in others we have individual filmmakers who actively promote the industry as well as public organizations and artists unions. For example, Boris Likhanov has repeated come to us with the idea of creating a film industry in the North Caucasus region. If earlier we were not successful in bringing his idea to life, with the creation of a new federal district for the region its implementation might be around the corner.
– In addition to providing information about the potential of Russia’s regions, as far as I know the National Film Commission will also be involved in promoting Russian films abroad. Is this the case?
– Facilitating the promotion on foreign film markets is one of the main objectives of the commission. Of course, our filmmakers today participate in the major international film festivals, including the largest. They participate in the festivals, but by in large this is where it ends. And there are Russian film weeks in other countries, but this is not commercial promotion. And without such commercial promotion, not a lot of people watch the films.
You are probably aware that even Hollywood producers make their profits not on the US market but rather on the international market. In this regard, today our film industry is not a money-making business. In the best case scenario there are only about 10 films, and more likely five, each year that break even. The rest are loss making. From 2003 to 2009, producers’ losses totaled 16 billion rubles. The issue of promoting our films on foreign markets is very much tied to the task of helping the film industry break even.
The creation of the conditions necessary to recoup investment is also key to attracting investment. It is one thing to know that in 9 out of 10 instances it is just philanthropy and an opportunity to have your name show up in the credits. It is another thing to invest in a commercial project that not only will break even but that also bring a profit.
Of course, in addition to the financial aspect, film promotion has a cultural component as well. Cinema remains the most accessible and massive format for representing Russian culture abroad.
– What kind of legal status will the National Film Commission have? Will it cooperation with the film fund or become some sort of branch of the Ministry of Culture?
– The National Film Commission will work under the patronage of the Russian government. The issue of financing is currently under discussion. Of course, funds need to be allocated, but experience in France and the US show that when such an organization is backed by a government body, its authority is perceived to be much higher and there is greater trust in the organization including in its financial affairs. Foreign partners will understand that the National Film Commission expresses the interests of the entire state and implements its cultural policy. It’s possible that the Russian Filmmaker’s Fund for Social and Economic Support will play a central role in commission’s activities. This hasn’t been formalized yet, but it is possible that the commission will make some sorts of decisions and the Fund will implement them.
– And finally, there is the issue of coproduction – a problem that has concerned the Russian society for some time. How will the National Film Commission address this?
– It’s true that in comparison with Europe, Russia produces a lot less coproduced films. In Europe it is understood that no country alone can compete with Hollywood. And this concerns not only investment but also creative resources. It is not always possible to pull together in one country a film crew of the best directors, operators, actors, etc. And so here again we need to inform our foreign partners about what directors, operators and filmmaking conditions we have here. If you take Mosfilm, for example, it has rather substantial technical resources. the facilities of Russian World Studios RWS are being built according to world-class standards.
The Ministry of Culture is creating the necessary regulatory and legislative foundation. The Law on State Support of Cinematography came into effect on May 1, and the it raises the level of foreign participation in a “national film” from 30% to 50%. So we have created some legislative initiatives. But this is not sufficient. In order for regional film commissions to attract foreign film groups, certain tax incentives should be created, namely, tax rebates for the portion of taxes to be paid in the regions. This is an accepted practice in Europe, as there they understand that such incentives do not lead to losses for the regional budgets but to the contrary increase revenues by 1.5-2 times.
