Models for the Development of Regional Cinematographies in the Russian Federation: Preliminary Observations

Abstract

The article is devoted to the current state of regional cinema development in the Russian Federation and draws on the authors’ extensive practical experience in the development of regional cinema in Russia.A brief historiography of the issue is given, and approaches to the definition of “regional cinema” are considered. The authors explore models of regional cinema development in contemporary Russia by analyzing key areas in different regions. For generalization and modelling, the methodology for analyzing the region’s activity in the sphere of film development, which includes 10 areas, developed in 2018, is taken as a basis. This methodology allowed us to isolate several models that are based on a certain dominant factor. These include attracting external film crews to the region and supporting them through a regional film commission (the Kaliningrad model); the prevalence of authentic ethnic issues in cinema, which form the content basis of regionally produced products and are primarily oriented towards the internal regional distribution market and domestic audiences (the Yakut model); and the creation of a workshop for higher specialized film education programmes in a particular region (the Kabardino-Balkarian model). The authors also suggest a mixed model, which does not have a clear dominant development direction and is common in most regions of the Russian Federation. The authors also draw attention to models of regional cinema development that may become promising in the future.