MOSCOW, RUSSIA — The 46th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), one of the most significant events in the world film industry, takes place from the 9th to the 18th of September 2021. Supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Russian Cinema Fund, ROSKINO organizes an online booth ROSKINO – RUSSIAN CONTENT WORLDWIDE at the TIFF Industry platform. The booth unites and represents the Russian content industry and leading Russian companies, such as All Media, Art Pictures Distribution, Central Partnership, Planeta Inform, Mirsand Ltd., Riki Group, Mars Media Entertainment, Sovtelexport Distribution Company, IGMAR, 5 Channel, and many others.
Evgenia Markova, ROSKINO CEO: “The mission of ROSKINO is to achieve recognition of Russian content at the global market. That is why we put our efforts into systematic promotion of the latest Russian art and commercial films and series at the international film festivals and markets. Toronto is important to us as an opportunity to present our content in North America. Unfortunately, due to the fact that the borders are closed Russian presence at the film market this year is virtual. Nevertheless, it is very impressive. More than 20 Russian companies will present their latest projects and we hope that all of them will be highly rated by foreign partners.”
Two online video presentations of Russian content are included in the program of the stand:
A presentation Spotlight on Russia: Feature Films and Series is planned for the 11th of September. Central Partnership, All Media, Planeta Inform, Russian World Vision, Mirsand Ltd., Rock Films, IGMAR, Riverlet Films, Sovtelexport, Mars Media, Start, Art Pictures Distribution, STAR MEDIA, 5 Channel and Sputnik Vostok Production are among the participants. Trailers of 20 newest feature films and series available to international acquisition will be presented by Evgenia Markova, ROSKINO CEO.
A presentation Spotlight on Russia: Animation takes place on the 12th of September. Animated content from Riki Group, Souzmultfilm, Russian World Vision, Agama Film, Animation Studio Platoshka, Prad-Media will be presented. The buyers will have an opportunity to have a look at six trailers of animation projects available for purchase.
One of the key events of the stand will be the premiers of the newest Russian projects.
Central Partnership will present an adventure picture of a treasure hunt in Bender: The Beginning by Igor Zaitsev starring Sergey Bezrukov. The producers of the film are Alexandr Tsekalo, Alexandra Remizova and Ivan Samohvalov.
Mirsand Ltd. will announce the thriller about death communities and terrifying and crazy game – Blue Whale by Anna Zaitseva. The producers of the picture are Timur Bekmambetov, Igor Mishin, and Anna Shalashina. The Russian premiere of the project is planned for the 7th of October.
Russian World Vision will show a war thriller The Red Ghost by Andrey Bogatyrev about an elusive partisan who picks off Nazi soldiers one by one. Starring Yuriy Borisov and Mikhail Gorev.
https://youtu.be/yAIuWyTE0Vk
IGMAR will present a tragicomedy about a married couple in quarantine 5 Weeks by Alexander Andreev.
Besides that, an episode of the First Channel series Vertinsky by Avdotya Smirnova will be shown. Among the producers of the project are Konstantin Ernst, Sergey Titinkov, and Natalya Smirnova.
Art Pictures Distribution will present new projects from the catalogue: Battle – a documentary film about Sergei Bondarchuk which will be released in Russia on the 30th of September and a romantic comedy Russian South by Anton Fedotov. New original projects of NMG and more.tv Chick by Eduard Oganesyan, Happy End by Evgeniy Shelyakin, and Ballet by Evgeniy Sangadjiev will be presented as well. Battle and Russian South have already successfully participated in international markets – several contracts were signed. Despite the fact that the production of Ballet has just started and the premiere is scheduled for next year, buyers from all over the world are interested in the project even now.
Start presents two new original projects at TIFF – psychological thriller about a professional negotiator Mediator by Artyom Aksenenko and dramedy about a vampire family from Smolensk – Central Russia’s Vampires by Anton Maslov. The company is sure that Central Russia’s Vampires will attract an international audience because the project combines different genres – a detective story with fantasy elements and a comedy – and will draw attention to the unique interpretation of events inscribed in the realities of the small country town.
All Media (a START company) will announce some new projects from the catalogue – films Litvyak by Andrey Shalopa, A Team of Heaven by Vladimir Alenikov, Goliath by Adilkhan Yerzhanov and Bullterrier by Vasily Bystrof and will also present a big library of high-quality Russian content. Moreover, as part of the film market the company plans to finalize some deals on the key projects in Western and Eastern Europe, America and Asia.
Russian World Vision will present a drama Intervention by Kseniya Zueva. The negotiations on the sport comedy Girls Got Game by Maxim Sveshnikov released in Russia on the 1st of September are continuing. On the spotlight is also a thriller Homeward by Olga Gnedich, the action of which unfolds during the pandemic of COVID-19. The company believes that the projects presented in Toronto will arouse great interest and has every reason to do so – Girls Got Game and Homeward have been already sold to Latin America and Girls Got Game was bought by French distributors as well.
Souzmultfilm plans to show projects in production – full-length animation films The Golden Beehive and The Formula for Water – having high expectations for this project.
Riki Group will continue to sell two full-length projects of the studio which are planned to be released in the next six months. It is Teddy Boom which tells the story of Max, high-class theft, who found himself in the center of incredible adventures in the toy shop. Another project is Finnick, a kind and funny story of a nasty brownie. Riki will negotiate with potential partners in Toronto, new agreements on the releases are planned to be made as part of AFM.
During the forthcoming film market in Toronto, Planeta Inform will present a catalogue replenished with the sequel of animation film Wings – Wings 2 by Vage Sargsyan who is already well-known around foreign colleagues. Moreover, a company continues to discuss the newest projects from the catalogue: We , a dystopia based on the novel of Eugene Zamyatin from the producers of Coma, Guardians, and war movie Wings over Berlin by the director and the producer of AK-47 Konstantin Buslov. Besides that, Planeta Inform will finalize the deals on a horror film Ex and a mystic thriller Mara presented earlier.
The main project which is considering the most promising, according to Rock Films and its sales agent Riverlet Films, is a war drama Palmyra directed by Andrey Kravchuk and produced by Alexei Uchitel which is currently in post-production. The release in Russia is planned for winter of 2022. Rock Films are paying special attention to the debut picture of Eduard Zholnin Zemun . In the earlier stages of production, the project has already aroused great interest at co-production markets and pitch sessions. The Whaler Boy by Philipp Yuryev and Sententia by Dmitriy Rudakov, which have been already announced at the market, continue to attract festival selectors and buyers, and producers hope for signing lucrative contracts.
IVI will present a series Gorbachev which is seen as a project with great international potential. The company hopes to draw attention of possible international co-producers to it and cooperate with partners from the USA, Canada, and Europe.
Star Media will show the new season of the series Detective Anna loved by western audience. The first season of the project was highly rated by foreign viewers and was included in the list of the best mystic series at the Amazon Prime Video alongside with Twin Peaks and Doctor House . Besides that, Star media will present at the market other top-titles from the catalogue like detective Black Sea and Cold Shores , the docudrama cycle The Rurik Dynasty and many others. In the USA and Canada Star Media already has some significant permanent partners, but the company is interested in the maximum expansion of the geography of the presence of projects in different countries.
Sputnik Vostok is going to look for distributors for three new projects which need financing for the finalization. Taste of Sun by Eldar Salavatov is produced in partnership with Uzbekkino and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. At the moment the film is in post-production. Up to The Sun – a family musical retro-series, a bright melodrama about love and friendship in the pioneer camp in 1978 which is waiting for the release. Strings is the latest web-series, a teenager dramedy and a single Russian project selected in the section of musical series of the international pitching Conecta Fiction. The Head of scriptwriters is Anna Gershovich ( Last Cop, Better than Us, Call-center ) and the directors of the project – the founder of Sputnik Vostok and producer of pictures Better than Us, Lapsi, Londongrad Alex Kessel and a documentary filmmaker Ivan Korvin. At the moment, the filming of the project is almost finished. The series will be released in Russia at Kinopoisk HD platform.
Prad-Media will present some projects in production. Animation series for the youngest viewers Sunbeam & Ladybug is the key project of the company. It is produced according to the principle of edutainment. The second project will be a full-length sci-fi comedy System-X which is being prepared for the release. The third project – a comedy film Lumberjacks. Prad-Media will seek for partners for co-production and financing for all the projects and also hopes for preliminary agreements with buyers from different countries.
Animation Studio Platoshka will present several projects in the stage of development. Antron – 3D animated series for children from 8 to 10, Agatha: Queen of the Garden – 2D series for children from 5 to 8 and a project Beadies in production which will be the main focus. The Studio is striving for new contacts at the market and is preparing for negotiations with producers from the USA, Canada, the UK and Ireland.
Russian projects in development with festival potential and independent content distribution will be available at the ROSKINO virtual booth, as well as a catalogue of leading Russian producers.
A film Compartment Number 6 by Juho Kuosmanen, a co-production project of Finland, Estonia, Germany, and Russia, will be shown in the program of the 46th Toronto International Film Festival in the prestigious section Contemporary World Cinema. The film won Grand Prix Award at the 74th Cannes Film Festival.
In the same section, another Russian film will be presented – a drama Unclenching the Fists by Kira Kovalenko which earlier won in Un Certain Regard program of the 74th Cannes Film Festival. The screening in Toronto will be the North American premier for the movie.
