Yulia Yurasova’s column about the ban on Oppenheimer and Barbie in Russia

The passions for the films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” reaching Russian cinemas by detours do not leave the audience. On the morning of August 31, a number of media and Telegram channels reported that the Ministry of Culture banned the distribution of these films in Russia, citing the fact that they “do not meet the goals of preserving and strengthening traditional Russian spiritual and moral values.”

But on closer examination, as is often the case, the story was not too sensational. It’s just that back in early August, State Duma deputy from New People Vladislav Davankov sent a letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin stating that foreign majors “were able to figure out” the scheme for supplying pirated copies of films – for example, Barbie and Oppenheimer – for cinemas. Tapes are already posted on pirate sites, because of which cinemas, deprived of the opportunity to receive copies, lose audience and revenue. Therefore, the deputy suggested developing a mechanism for compulsory licensing of “movies from unfriendly countries”, which would actually allow cinemas to play pirated copies of these films.

This is not the first time the issue of compulsory licensing of Western content has been raised in the last year and a half and is traditionally not supported by the state. That is what happened this time as well. Acting Minister Andrey Malyshev on August 28 told the deputy (Kommersant got acquainted with the answer) that it was inappropriate to develop a mechanism and added that the current predominance of Russian films in the box office “contributes to conveying national moral and ethical values ​​to the viewer,” and the films “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer » these tasks are not performed.

How can the state control foreign content for compliance with traditional and other values ​​if it does not officially exist?

That is, there is no question that the films will not be shown. They are not going to license anything either. Russian cinemas within the framework of “pre-screening service” are successfully spinning Western films to the delight of the audience. According to the Bulletin of the Film Distributor, Disney and Pixar’s Elementary animation collected 24 million rubles from August 17 to 20, and Sony Pictures Animation’s Spider-Man: Web of Universes franchise from June 8-11 – 91 million rubles.

But all this confusion raises another question. And how can the state now control foreign content for compliance with traditional and other values, if it does not officially exist? Previously, it was possible, for example, to revoke a rental certificate, which the Ministry of Culture practiced from time to time. And now there is no film, no ID. Market participants say that regulators have not discussed the issue with the industry, and the Association of Theater Owners confirmed this. Apparently, the traditional “manual control” will work. After all, the Gulag History Museum canceled the screening of the film Captain Volkonogov Fled. Well, they just made up their minds.