The Ministry of Culture of Russia summed up the results of the face-to-face defense by filmmakers of projects claiming state support in the form of subsidies for production. The Expert Council approved 249 works for funding, including 105 non-fiction and 60 feature films, ten children's and youth films, as well as 74 animation projects.
Among the films that received support was "First in the Minefield" directed by Anton Megerdichev about military priest Mikhail Vasilyev, who died in the Kherson region in November 2022. It will show the life and service of the archpriest in Chechnya, Syria, Donbass and other hot spots, where Vasiliev baptized soldiers and gave them instructions. The Caucasus Mountains, Abkhazia, Dagestan and Chechnya were chosen as filming locations.
The film about the traveler and explorer of the Far East Vladimir Arsenyev "Arseniev" will also receive funds from the department. Filming has already begun and will continue throughout the year.
Also, financing was approved for two films of the production center of the Gorky Film Studio. The first is The Bride Cashier, an adventure romantic comedy about an emancipated woman named Varya, who does not want to marry at the request of her parents. Her plan is to hold out for another year, so that at the age of 36 she can take the money from the Bride Mutual Fund and go on a trip. According to the authors, the plot is based on a real scheme of support for brides that existed at the beginning of the 35th century: women who did not create a family before the age of <> were entitled to a substantial dowry with small contributions.
The second work of the studio, which received the support of the Ministry of Culture, is the dramatic comedy "It's Never Too Late!" about a 37-year-old man. In the story, he will escape from his overprotective mother and travel a long way to get to know himself and find his father. An artifact belonging to bandits falls into the hands of the main character. They arrange a hunt, and their mother will chase the man with them. Director Nikita Vladimirov began filming in the fall, the main role will be played by Sergey Lavygin.
The Ministry of Culture will support two Lenfilm films: Daria Poltoratskaya's comedy Snow Bent Bamboo, about an Armenian family who moved to the Kuril Islands in 1991 in the hope that the islands would be given to Japan and they would become citizens of another country. This is a joint project of the Russian company Mars Media with Armenian filmmakers. Another Lenfilm film is Gandhi Was Silent on Saturdays by Yuri Zaitsev. At the center of the dramatic story is a 16-year-old young man who wants to take revenge on his parents, who are about to divorce, and brings a tramp from an underground passage into the house.
- © A shot from the animated series "The Fixies"
In addition, support will be given to: Nadezhda Mikhalkova's film "Fire Boy" about a teenager who was left alone in the village; Stasia Tolstaya's film Family Happiness based on the novel of the same name by Leo Tolstoy; a new look at Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island" and Olga Akatieva's "My Africa". Its hero, 13-year-old Kolya, dreams of returning from Africa to Moscow, but love stands in his way. Filming will take place in South Africa.
The list of approved projects was replenished by the comedy story "Clean Thursday", where a patient foreman from Pskov expects to win a cash prize at the Russian championship in demonstrating endurance in the bathhouse, the detective thriller "Good Father" with Sergei Marin in the title role, the drama "There are no vacant places in the park-hotel "Oblaka" by Maxim Panfilov, the war film "Sukho Island" about the siege of Leningrad, "Vegetable" about a 33-year-old deaf-blind man, as well as the multi-genre sports film "More Than Football", where a seriously ill girl can live while her father's team wins.
Regional filmmakers also received support for the implementation of their projects. Among the films are the Tatar film "The Mountain of Lovers", the action of which unfolds in several time intervals, the spy detective story "Porcelain Soldier" by Yevgeny Sokurov, the films "Scurvy" and "My Son", as well as the already shot Yakut film by Mikhail Lukachevsky "Where the Siberian Cranes Dance" about a boy who dreams of seeing the bird of happiness. The film will be released in 2024.
Among the ten full-length films for children and youth audiences that received funding are "Our Dad is Santa Claus", "Yaga on Our Head", "Joy", "Sivka-Burka", "Superangel" and others.
In addition, the Ministry of Culture has selected 74 animation projects. Among them are 18 films of the Mult Efir company, including Dodo, Apparently, The Fixies. High Five!", "Firefly", "Cheburashka". Subsidies will also be provided to the films "Yeti and Children", "Pincode 2.0", "The Last Bookstore", "Neochildren", "Sonya and Lyonya. Unbelievable Stories", "Drakoshia" and others.