Cultural move: The Peoples of Russia and the CIS Festival has become an element of Russia's soft power

See the Reichstag and the Brest Fortress, dive into the Sea of Okhotsk and plunge into the folklore of fraternal peoples — all this is possible at the first festival "Peoples of Russia and the CIS", which is taking place these days in Moscow. Master classes, lectures and exhibitions were held at three venues in the capital, and the results of the large—scale event will be summed up on November 5 at a meeting of the secretaries of the Security Councils of the Commonwealth member states. Such events are an element of soft power, which is especially important against the background of the growing fragmentation of both the world and the post—Soviet space, experts say. How the festival is held and what unites the history of the CIS countries is in the material of Izvestia.

What's interesting at the Peoples of Russia and the CIS Festival

A large-scale international festival is taking place in Moscow these days. From October 31 to November 5, residents and guests of the capital will get acquainted with the diversity and richness of cultures and traditions of our country, as well as the CIS countries. It is symbolic that the festival, the first of its kind, also takes place on National Unity Day, a holiday that embodies the cohesion of Russian society and the continuity of generations.

Photo: TASS/Evgeny Messman

The Peoples of Russia and the CIS Festival opened with a greeting from Vladimir Putin. In it, the President of the Russian Federation noted that for centuries, our country has cherished and multiplied invaluable traditions of good neighborliness, friendship and trust, and sought to enrich each other and develop distinctive national cultures.

"I am confident that the festival will contribute to the promotion of intercultural and interethnic dialogue and cooperation in the Commonwealth space, as well as to the expansion of fruitful diverse contacts," he said.

The President's speech was read out by the Secretary of the Security Council, under whose auspices the festival was organized in coordination with the Presidential Administration and the Russian Foreign Ministry. But what does culture have to do with it? "The answer is simple," Sergei Shoigu explained. "If we look at the National Security Strategy of the Russian Federation, we will see that there is no such strategic priority in it that would not be related to the events within the framework of the festival."

Photo: Moscow Agency/Dmitry Belitsky

In order to plunge into history and modernity at the same time, the organizers, including the Ministry of Culture, Rossotrudnichestvo, Moskino, the Russian Society Znanie, and the Russian Geographical Society (RGS), have prepared a number of cultural and educational events. The whole action unfolded at three metropolitan venues.

The festival began with the plenary session "The peoples of Russia and the CIS: protecting values, striving for the future." At the World Trade Center, high-ranking participants, including representatives of the Russian Federation, Belarus and Kyrgyzstan, discussed in a confidential atmosphere how to conduct national policy against the backdrop of many modern challenges and threats and develop interethnic cooperation.

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However, conversations alone are not enough. Therefore, the festival offered a lot of interactive activities, including lectures, exhibitions and master classes, to fully immerse oneself in the Russian and international cultural space of the CIS countries. For example, from November 2 to November 4, an exhibition of the winners of the All-Russian photo contest "Knowledge. Russia — the Peoples of Russia", the exhibitions of the Russian Geographical Society "The Most Beautiful Country" and "The Peoples of Russia", the interactive exhibition "Journey through Russia", as well as the VR cinema of the Russian Geographical Society. There you can fly over the nesting grounds of the kair on the Kola Peninsula, and watch the clouds on Mount Ai.‑Petri dishes in Crimea, diving with ringed seals in the Sea of Okhotsk, and even hearing gray whales sing.

Photo: Moscow Agency/Sergey Vedyashkin

One of the interesting events is the "Big Ethnographic Dictation" in the form of a 30—question test. In the Year of Defender of the Fatherland and for the first time in the history of the event, the questions were also prepared by the participants of the event. Events under the auspices of Dictation are held from 1 to 8 November on all continents, including Antarctica. The lecture hall of the Russian Geographical Society "Diversity of Cultures and peoples of Russia and the CIS" has also been launched for fans of ethnography. This way you can get to know the folklore, the traditional way of life and the cultural characteristics of the indigenous peoples more closely.

The hallmark of the cultural program of the festival was the All-Russian campaign "Modern Musical map of Russia", which took place on November 4. On National Unity Day, the best compositions representing each federal district and cities of federal significance and reflecting the spirit, symbolism and history of the regions were performed.

Several events are dedicated to "soft power". In particular, the media today is a powerful tool for promoting the cultural code.

Photo: Moscow Agency

— Holding such festivals is extremely important. They serve as an element of soft power, strengthen humanitarian ties in the post-Soviet space and generally create a positive background, including for political cooperation within the CIS. This is especially relevant against the background of the growing fragmentation of both the world and the post—Soviet space, in particular," Alexander Korolev, a political scientist, Candidate of political Sciences, Deputy director of the Central Research Institute of Higher School of Economics, tells Izvestia.

In recent years, the role of soft power seems to be decreasing, which is why similar events should be held, Nikolai Mezhevich, executive director of the Gromyko Association for Foreign Policy Studies, said in a conversation with Izvestia.

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Cinema as a modern soft power

Perhaps, culture is most vividly recorded in cinema, which is special for the younger generation. To discuss cooperation in this area, a forum was organized at the festival with the participation of cinematographers, directors, and screenwriters from Russia and the CIS.

In general, the Peoples of Russia and the CIS International Festival has become a platform for dialogue on international cooperation in the field of film production, where the capital of the Russian Federation has clearly demonstrated one of its advantages in this area — the Moskino Film Park.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov

The guests from the Commonwealth countries saw unique objects: an exact replica of the Reichstag in 1945, created for Igor Ugolnikov's film "The Banner of Victory", a large-scale decoration of the Brest Fortress, where the recently released picture "Not Listed" was filmed, an entire town with its town hall, theater and shops, which was built specifically for Pinocchio directed by Igor Voloshin, and followed by the majestic Arkanar, erected for the future film adaptation of the Strugatsky novel "It's Hard to be a God."

This is just part of the infrastructure, which already includes dozens of outdoor sites. There are plans to open a water pavilion, which will save cinematographers from having to look for similar facilities in Europe. Alexey Fursin, Head of the Department of Culture of the city, speaking at the plenary session of the film forum, stressed that Moscow is very attractive from the point of view of film production today.

— Firstly, the film infrastructure is developing. Secondly, there is a fairly strong staff that can help form a full film group here. At the same time, the cost of one shooting day is super competitive compared to any film studio," said Alexey Fursin.

The forum resulted in the signing of cooperation agreements and the announcement of the historical series Iskra about the heroes of the Great Patriotic War of different nationalities. The project will be implemented jointly with the film studios of the CIS countries, which confirms the role of cinema as an effective tool of soft power and strengthening the common cultural space.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Sergey Malgavko

— Culture, and cinema in particular, is an important component of cooperation both between our regions and with our fraternal union republics of the Commonwealth of Independent States. Cinema unites and inspires — it is a very important art. But it can also disconnect. In some Western films, for example, the leading role of the United States and its allies in the victory in the Great Patriotic War is clearly spelled out. Everyone knows that this is not the case. But the younger generation, who watches these films and, unfortunately, reads books less, believes. Therefore, one of the goals of our meeting is to find ways and points of contact that will help convey the historical truth," Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Alexei Shevtsov said during his speech.

It is at the meeting of the secretaries of the Security Councils of the CIS member states, which will be held on November 5, that the results of the festival will be summed up. For many years now, this format has allowed us to jointly develop measures aimed at protecting our countries from external and internal threats, as well as effectively address other pressing issues, Vladimir Putin stressed.