Following the results of the TIFF Industry, which took place online from September 9 to 18 as part of the 46th Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), Russian content producers secured a number of deals and negotiated the sale of films, TV series and animation with distributors from Sweden, USA, Canada, Japan, China, Spain, Italy, Mongolia, Poland, France, Germany, South Korea and other countries. Among the key agreements are the sale of the military drama PALMYRA to Japan: a package of series (“Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes”, “The Terrible”, “The Optimists. Caribbean Season”, “Call Me Mother”, “The Lockdown” and others) to Bulgaria for the state TV channel BNT. Offers from international distributors were received for the films “Elsa’s Land”, “Litvyak”, “Fib the Truth”, “Intervention”, “Girls Got Game”, “#Blue_Whale”, “Red Ghost”, TV series “Cloister”, “The Owl” and other projects. Leading Russian film companies have become participants of the ROSKINO – RUSSIAN CONTENT WORLDWIDE online stand, organized by ROSKINO with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture and the Cinema Foundation.
“Traditionally, the TIFF Industry market is an important event for Russian content producers not only in terms of sales but also in terms of the development of co-production projects: some Russian companies are already actively cooperating with Canadian companies on co-production. Participation in the TIFF Industry film market is also strategically important: it is very difficult to compete in the North American market, so the regular presence of Russian companies here allows both presenting domestic content to buyers in North America and Canada and studying market trends” Evgenia Markova, CEO of ROSKINO commented.
Markova said that Five new Russian projects were shown to international buyers and media representatives as part of market screenings – “Bender: The Beginning” with Sergei Bezrukov by Central Partnership, the thriller “#Blue_Whale” by Timur Bekmambetov and Mirsand, the military thriller “Red Ghost” by Russian World Vision, a tragicomedy about a couple in quarantine “5 weeks” by Igmar and an episode of the 1st TV channel project “Vertinsky”.




Markova said that the flagship project of the Rock Studio – PALMYRA, presented by the sales agent Riverlet Films, was sold to Japan and will be released in local cinemas in 2022. Company representatives noted the growing interest in the war drama directed by Andrei Kravchuk from distributors around the world as the date of the Russian premiere approaches (February 17, 2022). International sales agents were also interested in Eduard Zholnin’s debut film «Zemun»; they noted the subtle imagery, mystical atmosphere and the integration of Slavic mythology into modern Russian reality. Markova also said that the Toronto film market brought good results for Sovteleexport, the official distributor of the VGTRK content: they concluded a deal with a Bulgarian distributor that bought a package of series for the state television channel BNT – “The Terrible”, “The Optimists. Caribbean Season”, “Call Me Mother”, “The Lockdown”, “Zuleikha Opens Her Eyes” and many others. Company representatives also held meetings with buyers from Sweden, the USA, Japan, China, Spain, Mongolia, Poland. The release of the feature film “Elsa’s Land” in Spain, Bulgaria, Poland, Sweden, China is under consideration. Buyers from Mongolia were also shown interested in the TV series “Cloister”. Markova also said that Russian World Vision is in the final stage of negotiations with representatives of the Middle East airlines on the films “Inadequate People 2” and “Damned Official”. Many airlines were also interested in the sports comedy “Girls Got Game”, which was released in a number of countries on September 12. A thriller “Home!” aroused great interest from American, German and Asian distributors; negotiations are currently underway. The drama “Intervention” caught the attention of buyers from China and South Korea. The film “Red Ghost”, already sold in many countries, was shown as part of the market screenings, and the company is currently negotiating the remaining uncovered territories.

Markova said that Mirsand, an international distributor of films produced by Bazelevs, held meetings with American and Canadian distributors following the screening of the film “#Blue_ Whale” by Anna Zaitseva, which was shown at the market screenings. According to company representatives, the agreements are to be announced soon. In parallel with the presence at the largest film markets, the thriller is also participating in festivals. “#Blue_Whale” was the only film to represent Russia at Fantasia, the international festival of horrors, thrillers and action films, which took place in August in Montreal (Canada). The film will also participate in the Free Spirit Competition section of the Warsaw International Film Festival (8 -17 October).
Markova explained that All Media (A START Company) held negotiations with key companies from France, Italy, Japan, USA, Slovakia and China. Deals are being discussed on the following films: “Litvyak” about the Soviet fighter pilot Lydia Litvyak; the thriller “Fib the Truth” with Daria Melnikova and Pavel Priluchny in the lead roles, as well as on the “The Team of Heaven” about the tragic death of the Lokomotiv team in a plane crash.
Markova said that Channel 5 has begun negotiations on the sale of “The Owl” series to Japan, the USA and France. The sequel to “The Magnificent Five” series and the premiere of “48 Hours”, which will air this fall, were also shown in Toronto. Markova also said that Planeta Inform Group of Companies continued the discussion of previous offers from buyers on the films “We”, “Wings over Berlin”, “The Ex”, “Mara”. In Toronto, the company also presented a sequel to the animation film “Wings” – “Wings 2” directed by Vahe Sargsyan. The representatives of Planeta Inform Group of Companies are looking forward to the upcoming American Film Market to show new materials on key projects.
Markova said that STAR MEDIA negotiated with potential partners interested in licensing STAR MEDIA content and promoting it on international OTT/streaming platforms such as Tubi, Roku, Xumo and others. In Toronto, STAR MEDIA presented the new season of the “Detective Anna” series; the “The Black Sea” and “Cold Shores” detectives, “The Rurik Dynasty” documentary and others. In the USA and Canada, STAR MEDIA already has several partners, but the company is interested in expanding the geography of its projects in different countries.




IGMAR noted that the film “5 Weeks”, which was shown to international buyers as part of the market screening, received good feedback. The picture tells about the relationship of a couple in love, who was locked in the apartment during a pandemic.
Markova explained that Animation content makers also had active negotiations with international distributors. Soyuzmultfilm held meetings with distributors from Canada, the USA, Germany, France, China and Taiwan for its projects in production – the full-length cartoons “The Golden Beehive” and “The Formula for Water”. Prad Media noted the high interest of American and Chinese distributors in the animated series “Sunbeam & Ladybug”. Agama Film held initial negotiations with potential buyers from Europe and the USA on the “Fairy-teens” project. RIKI Group continued meetings with potential sales partners of two full-length projects – “Teddy Boom” and “Finnick”. Markova said that at the ROSKINO – RUSSIAN CONTENT WORLDWIDE virtual stand, Art Pictures Distribution presented their new projects (“Battle” – a documentary about Sergei Bondarchuk, the comedy “The Russian South”; original projects of NMG and more.tv: “Chiki”, “Happy End”, “Ballet”), START company (psychological thriller “Mediator” and dramedy “The Vampires of Midland”), online cinema IVI (“Gorbachev”), company Sputnik Vostok (“A Taste of the Sun”; musical retro-series “Up to the Sun”; youth dramedy “Strings”), Mars Media Entertainment, Platoshka Animation Studio (“Agatha: Queen of the Garden”, “Beadies”). The stand hosted two online presentations: “Spotlight on Russia: Feature Films and Series” and “Spotlight on Russia: Animation’. In addition, Russian projects in various stages of development which have festival potential and were selected for festival curators from around the world and distributors of independent content were presented, as well as a catalogue of leading Russian producers.