How film festivals influence regional development: expert discussion at the exposition

The RUSSIA EXPO hosted a discussion on the impact of film festivals on the cultural environment and regional development. Experts talked about the effect such events have on the economy, and also considered the role of the state in supporting film festivals.

"From the state point of view I would like to say that the Ministry of Culture supports a lot of festivals, about 370 million rubles are allocated for this purpose. Of the 62 festivals, 40 have international status. That's not a lot of money, and the main burden falls on the regions. But it is justified - the film festival becomes a landmark and a big event in the region," said the head of the Department of Cinematography and Digital Development of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation Dmitry Davidenko.

In the global cinema, festivals in Rotterdam and Sundance open the cinematic year: these festivals set the tone for the whole subsequent year and festivals. And in Russia, the year traditionally begins in Khanty-Mansiysk with the Spirit of Fire festival, which was founded by director Sergei Solovyov. In addition to Sergei Solovyov, its presidential council included the famous actor Alexander Abdulov. In different years, this film festival was attended by Pierre Richard, Fanny Ardant and other stars of world cinema.

"We are the oldest regional film festival. When Spirit of Fire was conceived, our idea was first and foremost that in a region where a huge part of Russia's wealth is extracted, factory workers should have the same access to culture that they have in the center of the country. But this also requires efforts of the region - we need full-fledged movie halls, the ability to show movies on good equipment. And I should note that Khanty-Mansiysk has fulfilled this task from the very beginning," said Maria Zvereva, Vice-President, Program Director of the Spirit of Fire Film Festival (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Area), playwright.

The main thing in organizing the festival is attention to details, said Polina Zueva, Director of the New Season Online Cinema Festival. The discussion was also attended by the famous film director and screenwriter Alexei German, who spoke about film festivals from the point of view of a participant. Andrei Apostolov, Editor-in-Chief of Lenfilm Studios, Program Director of the Window to Europe and Gorky Fest festivals, and other experts also shared their experience.