MOSCOW, December 27. /TASS/: Russia will keep screening films, despite the departure of Hollywood majors from the country, but it will need to produce some 300 movies domestically, including 60 major motion picture releases for that, Russian Culture Minister Olga Lyubimova told TASS.
"It’s clear that cinemas are up against a very difficult situation. And it’s clear that the film screening industry will somehow stay. We are doing our best jointly with the industry so that more Russian movies could be made. We will need some 300 films a year, of which there should be 60 major releases," she clarified.
The official said 11.6 billion rubles ($166 million) was spent on movie production in Russia from the state coffers to preserve the industry in 2022. Besides, the country’s cinemas have sold more than 7 million tickets to students under the Pushkin Card program since February. However, this was not enough and the Culture Ministry is currently looking for new ways to support the industry, according to Lyubimova.
"The [economic] model has changed and the situation has changed," she emphasized, recalling that there used to be quite a great deal of content, with cinemas thinking twice before picking up films from American, European or other productions for screening previously. "This means we should learn to reach agreements with other organizations and find our audience," she insisted.
Earlier, The Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures and Warner Bros. decided to suspend their operations in Russia amid the situation in Ukraine. A lobby group has asked the Russian government to allocate extra funds for the next few months to make up for the financial losses in the wake of the exit of Hollywood majors but was refused. Russian Presidential Culture Aide Vladimir Tolstoy has said the government is looking for alternative measures to support the Russian cinema sector. According to Lyubimova, the Culture Ministry expects the filmmaking industry to come up with ‘adequate proposals’.
