Animation. Context: industry news

08.02.2024

A review of the main events in the Russian animation industry: initiatives to support the field, forums, festivals and awards in January 2024.

INDUSTRY SUPPORT INITIATIVES:

• The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation considers a bill to amend the Federal Law “On State Support of Cinematography,” which will indicate that non-compliance with the basics of state cultural policy may become grounds for refusing a film distribution.
• The State Duma introduced a bill on blocking unauthorized mirror sites.
• The Cinema Foundation has launched the third wave of receiving applications for “Author” scholarship program for scriptwriters.
• Young engineers and animators obtained grans and awards from MultProm. The winners were children’s cartoons on science and technology, as well as videos from professional design bureaus made for industries.
• During the business trip to Khabarovsk Krai, Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the animation studio “Mechtalet” and reviewed some of its new projects.
• The Cinema Fund provided an approved list of leading film companies in domestic cinema production for 2024. According to the regulations, the leader of film production can become a company that has existed for at least three years and has released more than two authentic films, and has no debts to the Ministry of Culture and the Cinema Fund.
• UAIS summed up the results of film distribution during the New Year holidays. The total box-office take from January 1 to January 8, 2024 was 5.8 billion rubles, which became a new record in the history of film distribution in the Russian Federation.
• In 2024 in Krasnodar Krai, about 50 million will be allocated to compensate for the costs of domestic films, shot in Kuban in 2024. The support system in Krasnodar Krai has operated for three years, during the pointed period 38 films have received grants. This rate is really high throughout the country. Applications for rebates are accepted from February 19 to March 12, 2024.
• The Agency for Creative Industries under the Department of Culture of Moscow is holding a round table, themed “Personnel in the field of production, animation and media” at Technograd.
• The Institute for Internet Development has announced the dates for the III National Internet Content Award. The award ceremonies are held on March 5 and May 30, 2024. The best will be awarded in more than 30 categories.
• On January 3, the Animated Film Association, within the cooperation with Artek International Children’s Center and the Animatika International Animated Film Festival, will broadcast auteur animation by Russian studios at exhibition “Russia” at VDNH.
• The team of the Big Cartoon Festival invites everyone to new courses and creative events at the Big School of Animation. Coming soon: workshops on 2D, a new course on classical painting, offline meetings with directors.
• On January 28 at 7 p.m., the Animators Club of Russia arranged the first meeting in 2024 at the Small Hall of the Union of Cinematographers.

FESTIVALS, FORUMS AND FILM MARKETS. JANUARY 2024

• International festival of scientific and technical animation “MultProm” (Russia, Nizhny Novgorod, January 18 – 20).
  For the first time, the festival of sci-tech animation “MultProm” was held from January 18 to 20 in Nizhny Novgorod as part of the science and technology 10th anniversary under the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia with the support of Nizhny Novgorod region government. Young specialists from scientific organizations, university students, and students of animation schools were invited for participation.
• Kolkata International Children’s Film Festival (India, Kolkata, January 30).
  Kolkata International Children’s Film Festival X was held from January 25 to 29, 2024 in Kolkata (India). The program featured short animated films produced by the Parovoz studio. “On the Other Side” (directed by Evgeny Golovin and Alexander Afonasyev) and “Mother of Ship” (directed by Evgeny Golovin). Calcutta International Film Festival is one of the significant events in Indian cultural life. There is no competition program, as the festival is focused on screening films for a wide audience. This year, 111 cartoons from 31 countries have been shown in India.
• Expert panel: Russian film and animation industry in the era of new opportunities. Exhibition-forum “Russia” (Russia, Moscow, January 30)
  Within the program of the international forum “Russia”, an expert panel “Russian film and animation industry in the era of new opportunities” was held. During the meeting, current issues on trends in the development of cinema and animation were discussed.