Editor’s Note Given current global politics I honestly didn’t think I would be seeing something from the Russian Film Festival anytime soon.

From the 9th to 11th December, the Russian Film Festival will be hosted in Melbourne. Russian films are returning to Australia in an offline format.  In 2020 the festival was hosted online and had an audience of almost 87 thousand people. “We are pleased that two years later, the Russian Film Festival is returning to the country where we first started the popularisation of our global project to introduce Russian cinema to the international audience. Back then, during the pandemic, Australia was the first country, where we organised the Russian film days on the foreign VOD-platform. This time, the event will take place in an offline format. For the first time in 2022, as part of the Russian Film Festival, we will show a new magnificent drama “Land of Legends”.  It was exclusively released in Russia at the beginning of October, and is currently breaking all records, and leading the box-office charts for eight weekends already. I hope that this blockbuster will be enjoyed by the Australian audience just as much. The festival will also screen: a comedy, two animation films for the younger film lovers and a drama, based on true events. I truly hope that the return of the Russian Film Festival to Australia will ignite a new wave of interest for the Russian film.” CEO of ROSKINO, Inna Shalyto committed.

Shalyto said that Australian cinephiles will be treated to the newest Russian blockbuster hit – an epic action-drama “Land of Legends” produced by Anton Megerdichev. His previous work, the sports drama “Three Seconds”, became the most high-grossing Russian film on the international market in 2019. Shalyto went on to explain that the experts believe that the international potential of the “Land of Legends” is just as high.  An original story, massive battle scenes, spectacular twists and some old tales are capable of getting inside the hearts of the foreign audience.
Shalyto said that the RFF will also present a drama “The One”, by Dmitrii Suvorov.  Based on true events of the life of Larisa Savitskii, a survivor of a 1981 plane crash where the plane tumbled from the altitude of 5200 meters; a comedy “Young Man” by Alexander Fomin, which tells a story about a 30-year-old man down on his luck, who forges his documents, shaves his beard and sets out to participate in a competition for high school students, where he can win a huge cash prize. Younger viewers will get to see two animated films – a kid’s crime story “Detective Chirp & the Golden Beehive”, the first full-length animated film ever made entirely on a game engine, used exclusively for the creation of videogames; and “The Fixies vs. Crabots” – a story about tiny humanoids, who live inside machines and appliances, and look after the tech.
Shalyto explained that the Russian Film Festival in Australia is organised by ROSKINO, with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. For More Information.

The Russian Film Festival programme in Australia:

• “Land of Legends” (director: Anton Megerdichev, 2022) – and epic action-drama based on a novel by Alexi Ivanov. A Russian duke Mikhail and a young Tiche are children of different nations, different worlds and different Gods. The love of a young warrior and a witch seems impossible.  But love overcomes all obstacles, and initiates the wheel of consequences. From now on, the future of the ancient lands depends solely on Mikhail, who has the blood of ancient Pagan Gods running through his veins. Here, ghosts, heroes, dukes and shamans collide. To give up your life here is nothing compared to having to choose between your honour, loyalty to your brotherhood, and love for a woman.
• “The One” (director by Dmitriy Suvorov, 2022) – a drama based on true events. On 24th of August, 1981, newlyweds Larisa and Vladimir Savitsky boarded a plane on route from Komsomolsk-on-Amur to Blagoveshensk. Half an hour before landing, Flight AH-24 collided with another aircraft and broke into pieces at the altitude of 5 kilometres. No one should have survived, but a miracle happened. Larisa woke amidst the ruins of the plane, in the middle of the winter forest.
• “A Young Man” (director Alexander Fomin, 2022) – a fun comedy about the conflict of generations. Despite finishing school with honours, and excelling at college, by the age of thirty, Ivan ended up with nothing; his wife left him, he was fired from his job… At rock bottom, he finds out that his classmate, a terrible student, Kolya, became a very successful businessman. Kolya decided to host a competition for high school students, with a multimillion dollar prize. Ivan, who looks much younger than his actual age, decided to trick Kolya. He shaved his beard, forged his documents, and set out to participate in the competition, confident that hie will defeat the much younger high schoolers…
• “Detective Chirp & the Golden Beehive” (director Grigori Vozjakin, 2022) – Russian animation film produced by SMF Animation and “Magic Factory”, based on the animated series Secrets of Honey Hills. The project combines two popular genres – a crime story and a comedy. A wise owl private eye Sofie and her eager assistant – a squirrel named Chirp – undertake the investigation of a very peculiar case. The main characters, their friends and the citizens of the Honey Hills will have to fight a super villain in order to prevent the theft and destruction of the Golden Beehive artefact. Legend says that this artefact controls the weather in the Valley…
• “The Fixies vs. Crabots” (directors Vasili Bedoshvili, Oleg Uzjinov, Ivan Pshoshkin, 2019) – an animation film about Fixies – tiny, cute humanoids, which live inside appliances and tech equipment, and look after it. Well… They fix stuff. Fixies hide from humans. There are but a few lucky people in the world who’s ever gotten to see them. The laboratory of Professor Chudakov, is where the school of Fixies is based. Only two people know about it, a boy named DimDimich and his friend Katia. However, one day, mysterious, elusive creatures appear – Robots-Crabots. They spy on the Fixies and threaten to reveal them…