The most anticipated films of 2023 in Russia: a version of The Master and Margarita is being shot

In December 2022, the relevant committee of the Federation Council on economic policy stated that the box office of Russian cinemas fell by 56-70 percent. Large foreign players left the domestic market. Hollywood films have become curiosities.

Some of the distributors take risks and are ready to release foreign films without an agreement with the copyright holders. Due to the shortage of films, some cinemas reduce the number of screenings on weekdays, leaving the “sweet” for the weekend.

Do international festivals shine in Russia

It is too early to talk about Cannes and Venice, but in late January-early February, two Russian films will be presented at the 52nd Rotterdam Film Festival, and this is a truly amazing case in the new reality.

“One Little Night Secret” by Natalia Meshchaninova entered the Big Screen competition. The short film “Two” by Alexandra Karelina is announced in the program of short and medium films and tells in the cyberpunk genre about the introduction of a state of emergency in Moscow.

The Academy Awards will take place in Los Angeles on March 12, 2023. And on January 24, the full list of Oscar nominees will be announced. Let’s hope that their number will include the short documentary film “Exhalation” by Evgenia and Maxim Arbugaev, which got into the shortlist. It is co-produced by Russia and the UK and talks about ongoing climate change. The dramatic footage of walrus migration in Chukotka, when thousands of animals come ashore, get injured and die, makes a strong impression.

The shortlist in the category “Best International Film” includes 15 films competing for the “Oscar”. Among them are “Corsage” from Austria, “Return to Seoul” from Cambodia, “Saint-Omer” from France, “All Quiet on the Western Front” from Germany, “Land of Joy” from Pakistan, “Decision to Leave” from South Korea, “Conspiracy in Cairo” from Sweden.

Russia was not initially represented even in the long list, since it left the game on its own initiative, more precisely, at the lordly will of Nikita Mikhalkov. He doesn’t deserve an Oscar. Let others stand aside.

The 73rd Berlin Film Festival will take place from 16 to 26 February. The full program will be announced in January. It is already known that the jury of the main competition will be headed by American actress Kristen Stewart.

Russian paintings quite rarely got into the main program of the Berlinale, with the exception of the years of perestroika, and now one cannot count on special attention. But other programs remain, where almost always one of the Russian filmmakers is invited. It is already known that Steven Spielberg, who will also present the autobiographical film Fabelmans, will receive the honorary Golden Bear for film achievements.

The festival will premiere “Seneca” by Robert Schwentke with John Malkovich in the role of the ancient Roman philosopher and poet. The film tells about his difficult relationship with a student, later the Roman emperor Nero. One day he will order Seneca to kill himself.

Announced at the Berlinale are the premieres of Tar by Todd Field with Cate Blanchett, and Infinite Pool by Canadian director Brandon Cronenberg. Some of what was presented at the festival will be seen on Russian screens, albeit on a modest scale.

A new documentary by American director Alex Gibney will be shown in Berlin. He is not afraid of difficult topics, and in 2019 he directed Citizen X about Khodorkovsky.

Now Gibney is interested in the fate of the German tennis player Boris Becker, who once became the youngest winner of the Wimbledon tournament, the first racket of the world. Becker has a vibrant sports career and an equally intriguing personal life. It is not yet known whether the subject of his unexpected paternity is touched upon in the picture – Russian woman Angela Ermakova once stated that she has a daughter, Anna, from Becker. After DNA analysis, he admitted his paternity.

In April 2022, a high-profile financial case was associated with the name of Becker, which ended in imprisonment with subsequent early release. A few days before the court verdict, he managed to give an interview for the film.

Domestic festivals also promise something unexpected. A year has passed since the death of the classic of Russian cinema, Sergei Solovyov. Do not forget how more than 20 years ago he presented in Cannes the start of the International Festival of Debuts “Spirit of Fire”. Filmmakers all over the world then fascinated repeated the word “Siberia”. Everyone wanted to come to Solovyov. Paolo Sorrentino, who was still unknown to anyone, presented his first film “The Superfluous Man” in Khanty-Mansiysk.

And now they want to radically change everything, reorient themselves to ethnic films of the peoples of the world, to the life of small peoples, which is interesting in itself, and appoint Emir Kusturica as president. He already directed the theater in Moscow – short and funny.

Anna Karenina plus The Master and Margarita

A six-episode documentary film Karenina based on the book The True Story of Anna Karenina by Pavel Basinsky is scheduled to be released in 2023. Viewers will learn not only the history of the creation of Leo Tolstoy’s novel, but will also receive answers to the questions: “Did Anna commit suicide? Or is it an accident? They will have the opportunity to look at the details that slip away while reading.

Particular attention is paid in the picture to the mysterious circumstances of Anna’s life, the fate of other heroes, their role in this entire tragic story.

The authors of the project promise to talk about the prototypes and their influence on Tolstoy, the institution of divorce in an Orthodox country. We will find out why Anna dances with Vronsky not a waltz, but a mazurka, why Vronsky’s horse was called Frou-Frou, at what races in Krasnoye Selo he broke her back. It will be interesting to find out what Steve and Levin order at the restaurant, and where Anna went before her death.

Will we see in the new year the series “Anna K” based on Tolstoy’s novel “Anna Karenina”, launched by Netflix, is a question. The film takes place in modern Russia, and Karenin became the governor of St. Petersburg without five minutes. Our realities are changing so rapidly that a large directing team must be constantly making adjustments. The role of Anna Karenina will be played by Svetlana Khodchenkova.

No less intriguing is the film adaptation of The Master and Margarita by the young and talented director Mikhail Lokshin, which is close to completion and starring Yevgeny Tsyganov and Yulia Snigir. Once again, filmmakers face all sorts of unforeseen circumstances.

The fate of the predecessors who took on the novel by Mikhail Bulgakov is partly repeated. The names of the series are changing (either “Woland”, or not), the composition of his team. The film was scheduled for release in fall 2023, but the Bible scenes have yet to be filmed.

Yura Borisov will play Pushkin

Apparently, Sergei Bezrukov will continue the long-standing tradition and give the audience a reason to once again name himself the actor of the year. There is hope that the films with his participation “The Nuremberg Trials” by Nikolai Lebedev and the military drama “Air” by Alexei German Jr. will finally be released, the production of which was delayed for various reasons.

Now Sergey Bezrukov is actively acting in the film of his wife Anna Matison “Plevako” in the role of Russian lawyer Fyodor Plevako, whose performances in court went like a theater.

Yura Borisov, whose acting career surprisingly began to take shape a year ago and he represented Russia at the main world festivals in Cannes, Venice, Locarno, is now announced in Alexei Nuzhny’s The Bremen Town Musicians as the Rooster. His company is motley: Konstantin Khabensky, Sergey Burunov, Irina Gorbacheva, Tikhon Zhiznevsky, Dmitry Dyuzhev. The actors themselves will perform the well-known songs of Gennady Gladkov in a modern arrangement.

Yura Borisov will also play and sing the role of Pushkin in the musical film The Prophet by Felix Umarov. Filming will take place in St. Petersburg and the Mikhailovskoye Pushkin Museum-Reserve, where Sergei Bezrukov recently also starred, although not in the role of Pushkin.

The film will release in December 2024. But last year’s triumph is not to be expected, although Yura Borisov will also play Konstantin Levin in Anna K. Now, however, he is filming in the film “Summer is Ending” with young and promising directors from Yakutia Maxim Arbugaev and Vladimir Munkuev. The chances remain.

17 reasons to make movies

The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation announced 17 priority topics that will receive state support in the first place in 2023. This means that in the near future viewers will see films of a certain theme. In order to work and have funds for this, someone is ready to rent under such guarantees, without particularly understanding their own preferences. Someone continues to engage exclusively in what the soul lies in.

Among the priorities outlined by the state are the culture of Russia, the preservation of traditional family values, the “decade of childhood”. They will support films that tell about innovations in science and technology, historical films as a tribute to the memory of the glorious events of the past and counteract attempts to falsify.

Particular emphasis is placed on the peacekeeping mission of Russia and the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War. The themes of continuity of generations and the image of Russia as a modern and stable state with great opportunities for self-realization are welcome.

The heroes among us are the strong personalities of modern Russia. The priority is the popularization of the professions of a teacher, doctor, worker and engineer, the motivation of young people to master these specialties. The Ministry of Culture also recalled the traditions of the regions of Russia, the peculiarities of the development of the Far East and the Arctic, the life of small towns and villages.

The state welcomes the film adaptation of works of Russian classics, films about outstanding personalities of history, culture, science and sports.

A special line goes to pictures that counteract modern manifestations of the ideology of Nazism and fascism, about the heroism and selflessness of Russian soldiers during a special military operation, supporting the status of the military profession on the examples of historical events and modern history.

Another priority topic is the neo-colonial policy of the countries of the Anglo-Saxon world and the degradation of Europe. This is followed by self-realization of people with disabilities, active longevity, films about teenagers and the formation of life guidelines at the stage of growing up, moral and ethical choice, and citizenship.

Among the applicants for state grants at recent pitchings are “The Militia” based on the novel by Alexander Prokhanov about the events in the south-east of Ukraine, the joint “Mission” Ganges “with India based on the real events of February 2022 (Indian students study at one of the Ukrainian universities in Sumy and are captured, they are released by the Russian military.