XI Beijing Film Festival (BJIFF) to be held with a focus on Russia in collaboration with the Russian Film Festival

XI Beijing Film Festival (BJIFF) to be held with a focus on Russia in collaboration with the Russian Film Festival

Thanks to the Russian Film Festival project, five Russian films will be shown offline at the festival in Beijing (17 – 30 September). For the first time, the Russian Film Festival will be integrated into a major international film festival and will be held under the BJIFF: Focus on Russia title.

A successful initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and ROSKINO – Russian Film Festival, an annual festival already held in 2020-2021 in Latin America, Australia, Spain, South Korea and Kazakhstan, will now move to China – one of the most important economic and cultural partners of Russia, as well as a long-term leader in the international consumption of Russian films. The Russian Film Festival in China is supported by the Russian Cinema Fund.

The program includes the films “Sputnik”, “Masha”, “The North Wind”, “A Man from Podolsk” and “Stanislavsky.  Lust for Life”, which from September 17 to 30 will be available in cinemas. In addition, Russia will be represented at the Beijing Film Festival by Conference and Siege Diary in the main competition Tiantan Award Official Competition, as well as Whaler Boy and Chupacabra in the out-of-competition Forward Future program.

Olga Lyubimova, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation: “The presence of Russian content at international film festivals and platforms is steadily expanding. It is both challenging and pleasant for us to see the influence of the Russian Film Festival on this dynamic. At the same time, we have always taken into account the interest of Chinese viewers in our films, and the Beijing International Film Festival is a great place to strengthen the relationships with our partners, as well as to delight the audience with new projects”.

Evgenia Markova, CEO of ROSKINO: “This year, our countries are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Agreement on Good-Neighborliness and Friendship signing, which helps to deepen the cultural exchange between Russia and China. Thanks to the well-coordinated work of the Ministries of Culture of Russia and China, for many years we have seen a real wealth and diversity of bilateral cultural interaction: Chinese culture festivals are held in Russia and Russian culture in China, concerts, and performances of artists from both countries are organized as part of music and theatre festivals. Regarding cinematography, our countries also have a lot in common – viewers in China traditionally love Russian military dramas, and representatives of the industry have created several projects in co-production in recent years. The main purpose of the Russian Film Festival, besides reintroducing new Russian cinema to Chinese audience is to navigate the interests and preferences of local viewers, as well as to initiate a cultural and business dialogue between representatives of the industry, and we have high hopes for the upcoming event”.

Fedor Bondarchuk, director, producer: «These last years, the science fiction genre is really booming in China and local blockbusters are gradually making it into the Netflix top-ten. Bearing that in mind, we are really happy that Art Pictures Studio sci-fi feature “Sputnik” was chosen for the lineup of BJIFF: Focus on Russia. And we do hope that after the festival this project will find even more recognition among Chinese spectators».

According to representatives of the BJIFF organizing committee, ‘a festival with a focus on Russia could become a precious bridge for the movie industry and audience in both countries’.

The program of the Russian Film Festival in China is focused on the local Chinese audience and based on the preferences of local viewers, and the experience of acquisitions of Russian projects by Chinese buyers.

– The sci-fi thriller about a space alien Sputnik, the directorial debut of Egor Abramenko, representing a new generation of talented young Russian directors. In 2020, the film entered the TOP-3 of American iTunes; the sales geography includes more than 100 countries of the world. There are also plans to shoot a remake of the thriller in collaboration with a Hollywood studio.

– The criminal drama Masha, unfolding in the 90s, directed by Anastasiya Palchikova. Masha is a collaborative project of the 1-2-3 Production film company, which created To the Lake – the most successful Russian series abroad, and Mars Media, which produced the international bestseller T-34, winning two awards at the Jackie Chan International Action Film Week in 2019.

– A macabre fairy tale The North Wind by Renata Litvinova, one of the most extraordinary Russian directors and actors.

– A comedy absurdist drama, an adaptation of the play of the same name by Dmitry Danilov A Man from Podolsk – the debut of the theatre director Semyon Serzin, who also played the lead role in the Petrov’s Flu, a film of the Official Selection of the 74th Cannes Film Festival.

– A documentary about the genius of the theatre of the 20th century Konstantin Stanislavski – Stanislavski. Lust for Life directed by Julia Bobkova.

ROSKINO is a state organization representing the Russian audiovisual content industry on the international market; a national operator for the promotion of films, TV series and animation, as well as co-production opportunities within Russia. The company also acts as an industry expert and organizes special educational programs for talented Russian producers, directors and actors. ROSKINO promotes Russian content in key international markets and festivals and organizes Russian film festivals abroad under the Russian Film Festival brand.

Russian Film Festival is a project organized by ROSKINO with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. RFF aims to introduce a variety of modern Russian content: from feature films to documentaries, TV series and animation. In 2020, the festival was held in four countries (Australia, Mexico, Spain, Brazil) in the online format. In 2021, RFF took place in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Kazakhstan and South Korea. Since its launch, RFF has gathered more than 200 thousand viewers. For the Russian film industry, this is the first online project aimed at a broad international audience.

The Beijing International Film Festival (BJIFF) was founded in 2011, it’s an annual grand cultural event with the greatest international influence in Beijing. As a major platform for international exchanges, the barometer of the film market, incubator of rising stars and works, and Beijing’s cultural brand, the BJIFF has become Beijing’s most influential annual cultural festival around the globe and played a crucial role in the development of China’s film industry.