Moscow International Film Week has started in Moscow

In the last week of August, the attention of the capital's cultural community is focused on a large—scale event - the Moscow International Film Week (MMNK). Moscow annually gathers foreign and Russian experts in this field from dozens of countries to share their experiences, sign international contracts and conclude agreements.

This year, the MMOC began with a business program at the site of the Moskino film Factory. The first speaker at the session "Moscow — the City of Cinema" was Alexey Fursin, Head of the Moscow Department of Culture. According to him, the share of Russian releases in domestic cinema collections increased from 22% in 2019 to 82% in 2024, and the number of their viewers increased from 51.1 million to 100 million people, respectively.

"We see how the audience's interest in our films is growing from year to year. The growth continues, although we understand that the audience is starting to switch to online platforms," said Alexey Fursin. — Demand should generate supply from industry representatives, and several factors should work for this. First of all, the city relies on infrastructure development. A powerful studio for virtual production has been created in Moscow, and a pavilion for water filming will be opened next year."

Georgy Prokopov, General Director of Moskino, noted that this year five different themed scenery were opened in the film park of the same name, including the capital of the constructivist era of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as a medieval Russian city and provincial cities of Europe. 23 new pavilions will be built in late 2025 and early 2026.

The world-famous director Emir Kusturica said that he is inspired by Dziga Vertov's cinematic sketches of Moscow, created a century ago, and he wants to shoot the Russian capital in the same way as Federico Fellini showed Rome in the film of the same name. According to him, the two cameramen he brought with him are already conducting the first filming, including the heroes of the paintings. Emir Kusturica also intends to make feature films based on Russian classics.

The business program continued with the session "You can't make a movie." The main issue of the discussion was the popularity of film adaptations and its causes. The speakers agreed that the main reason for the demand for film adaptations among the audience is that they are based on already proven stories with their own marketing base and an established audience, be it books or comics.

The main challenge for film adaptations remains the expectations of viewers who remember the iconic scenes and emotions of the original source. But here a balance should be maintained: after all, literal following of the text can kill emotions, and drastic changes can distort the author's intention and cause unnecessary disputes and discussions among the audience.

The session "Legends of World Cinema" provided the audience with a unique chance to communicate with the world-famous director, four-time Oscar winner Woody Allen. The famous actor, director, screenwriter and producer Fyodor Bondarchuk moderated the meeting. Woody Allen spoke about his landmarks in Russian culture. "Chekhov is a god to all of us. He is a great writer, everyone knows Chekhov. Like Pudovkin and Eisenstein. Gogol, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Turgenev are part of the cultural landscape of the whole world, we love them and know them," said Woody Allen. According to him, he watched the Soviet film "War and Peace," which runs for more than six hours in one day.

The American film director added that he had been to Russia several times, including Moscow and the Northern Capital, but he did not have the opportunity to make a film about our country. "If I am offered to make a film about Russia, I will need to think carefully about which script to write so that it suits Moscow or St. Petersburg," the American film director shared.

According to Woody Allen, he was greatly influenced by the films of Federico Fellini, Jean-Luc Godard, Ingmar Bergman, Akira Kurosawa. "These films made a big impression on my generation of directors. But the younger generation doesn't have that. They are more impressed by technological films, comic book films with popular but less substantial filmography," he believes.

"Auteur cinema has chances, but streaming has a huge advantage. I'm used to old-fashioned movies. I love going to the movies, but everything has changed. Many cinemas in New York have closed. People like streaming platforms. I was making a five-part movie for television, but I didn't like it. I'd rather not do that anymore. I'm used to watching movies in cinemas, not at home," said the filmmaker.

The first day of the MMOC was not limited only to the business agenda. In the evening, more than 400 people gathered at the Khudozhestvenny cinema — stars of the domestic and foreign film industry, honored guests and journalists. The reason for the meeting was the official opening ceremony of the Moscow International Film Week.

The event was attended by Alexander Tsypkin as the host, film director and screenwriter Emir Kusturica, actor and stuntman Mark Dacascos, as well as director Valeria Guy Germanica. The landmark event will forever remain a bright moment in the history of the "Artistic".