The main achievements of Russia at the Cannes Film Festival were the Grand Prix awarded to the film Hytti Nro. 6 by Juho Kuosmanen co-produced with Russia in the main competition program and the victory of Kira Kovalenko’s film Unclenching The Fists in the Un Certain Regard section which is the first Grand Prix for Russian filmmakers in this competition program since 2008.
“Despite the pandemic, the Ministry of Culture decided to support the Russian Pavilion in Cannes this year, taking into account the wide representation of Russian projects in the Festival program and the focus on promoting and exporting Russian cinema to the international market. It was important for us to present not only films but also our actors, filming services and locations, government support measures for co-production and other opportunities Russia offers for international directors and producers. We are pleased with the phenomenal success of Russian cinema at the Cannes Film Festival and, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture of Russia, we congratulate all the participants and especially the winners.” Svetlana Maksimchenko, Director of the Department of Cinematography and Digital Development of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation commented.
“This is the first prize of the Russian minority co-production in Cannes. The program launched by the Russian Ministry of Culture only two years ago has yielded quick results. The Grand Prix of the main competition, awarded to the film Hytti Nro.6, once again underlines the importance of the development of co-production initiatives. And we are already negotiating with three countries to sign new co-production agreements.” Evgenia Markova, CEO of ROSKINO commented “The main prize in the second most important section of the Cannes Film Festival Un Certain Regard awarded for the first time in more than 10 years to the film Unclenching The Fists by Kira Kovalenko speaks of the emergence of a new generation of Russian directors and interest in stories and projects from the regions of our country. This is an important signal to everyone who develops regional cinema and young talents.”




“Unfortunately, Kira did not have time to return to the ceremony – the flight from Canada to Europe would have taken 16 hours. But having worked with her for over three years by now, I know exactly what she would say. First of all, she would thank her actors – professionals and amateurs – everybody who starred in the film. She would thank the wonderful film crew who worked with her in North Ossetia, a region of Russia that rarely appears on the screen. She would also thank her teacher, an outstanding director Alexander Sokurov, for introducing her to this profession. And of course, she would thank the Festival for the opportunity to hear her voice and the jury for such an assessment of her film.” Alexander Rodnyansky, producer of Unclenching The Fists commented.
“I am glad that the film was highly appreciated by the critics, and we are sure that the Russian audience will also love this film when it is released. I am very happy about the success of the film and I am grateful to the very talented director Juho Kuosmanen and the entire international team. Hooray! And hurray to our good neighbourly relations with Finland.” Sergei Selyanov, producer of Hytti Nro. 6 commented.
“I am very happy for all of us, for the team, for the audience of the Cannes Film Festival, for the jury. Our movie celebrates tenderness, love, compassion and sympathy for people. It’s great that this film won the Grand Prix because, being a great work of cinematography, it sends a very important message to all of us. An incredible reward and joy!” Natalia Drozd, producer of Hytti Nro. 6 commented.

Evgenia Markova explained that the work of the Russian Pavilion at the 74th Cannes International Film Festival and the Marché Du Film international film market at Village International has also ended. For the 13th time, the Russian pavilion officially presented the country in Cannes, serving as a unified information centre for our filmmakers and a universal platform for promoting Russian cinema on the international market. Markova added that the pavilion was organized with the support of the Cinema Fund and the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. During those nine days of work, it hosted more than 20 events in online and offline formats, which attracted many industry professionals from different countries.

Markova said that during the Cannes Film Festival and the Marché du Film film market, various representatives of the global content industry have visited the Russian Pavilion including representatives of international film festivals (San Sebastian International Film Festival, Torino Film Festival, Berlinale-Berlin International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Directors’ Fortnight, Tribeca Film Festival, Warsaw Film Festival, Torino Film Festival, Canneseries and others); large industrial organizations from around the world (European Cinema Foundation Eurimages, organizations promoting French cinema in the world UniFrance and CNC, Israel Film Fund, World Film Institute, international forum When East Meets West, national cinematography centers of Germany, Greece, Hungary, Bulgaria, Romania, Italy, Latin American countries, the leading European organization for the development of producers’ trainings EAVE); international film companies from the USA, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, France, Sweden and others, as well as journalists from the world’s leading media – Variety, Screendaily, Deadline, Hollywood Reporter, Paris Match, Die Welt, Le Monde, Huffpost, The Daily Telegraph, Numero and others. Markova went on to explain that the ROSKINO team discussed the formats of Russian presence in the main and business programs of the festivals Mar del Plata (Argentina), Guadalajara (Mexico), Black Nights (Estonia), as well as possibilities of co-production with the Israeli public and private funds, the Turkish Film Foundation and many other countries. As part of the meetings with the curators of the leading film festivals, a selection of projects Focus on Festivals with the biggest festival potential was presented.




“Focus on Festivals is a well-compiled and helpful guide for every festival selector. It combines practical information about new projects and helps to keep track of new films. I am delighted with this initiative.” Barbara Wurm, Selection Consultant Berlinale commented.
“Having the Russia – Israel filmmakers meeting at the Russian Pavilion was one of the most important activities we did in Cannes this year. The group of decision-makers made the first contact in exploring ways to create new content between the two countries. While celebrating the first corporation in the form of the animation film by Ari Folman, the meeting allowed both sides to start drafting new partnerships in film production, education, animation and VR. The soon to be signed co-production agreement will open the door for many projects that were conceived during our meeting in Cannes. The Israel Film Pavilion would like to thank Evgenia Markova and her great team for hosting the Israel film Industry for this event, and we look forward to continuing our partnerships in future film events.” Lior Sasson, Development Director of the Israel Film Found commented.
“The Cannes Film Festival is, of course, primarily a cinema festival. But it is also the most important industrial event for filmmakers, determining the fate of the films demonstrated here. That is why professional support in promoting the project is so important. And we are grateful to the team of the Russian Pavilion and ROSKINO for this support, for organizing meetings with international colleagues.” Alexander Rodnyansky, producer commented.
“I think there’s been a lot of energy and dynamism around the Russian industry in the past few years, and we saw more of that in Cannes, with two films in competition and a host of others across the festival’s other sections. Roskino deserves a lot of credit for boosting the visibility of the Russian industry on the global stage. There was a lot of activity around the Russian pavilion on the Croisette, and it felt like a natural extension of the work Roskino has been doing at other international festivals and markets, like EFM, as well as through tailored showcases like the Key Buyers Event. It’s an exciting time for those of us who love world cinema to watch a new generation of Russian filmmakers continuing to build on such a rich moviemaking legacy, and it’s encouraging to see an organization like Roskino putting so much time and effort into giving those filmmakers the spotlight they deserve.” Christopher Vourlias, journalist for Variety commented.