Quota is a new turn

The Ministry of Culture and the largest Russian cinema networks agreed to introduce a voluntary quota to show domestic films, Interfax reports . Under the terms of the contract, Russian films will take 20 percent of the screen cinema time per year. The document will enter into force on January 1, 2016.

The agreement was signed by the Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky and representatives of the film, including such large ones as “Cinema-Star”, “Karo”, “Paradise”, “Mirage-Synem” and “Kinomax”. The minister during the meeting, preceding the signing, expressed the hope that this decision would benefit domestic cinema.

For several years, Russian officials have been discussing whether it is worth defending domestic cinema, limiting the rental of a foreign one. The government first spoke about quotas in 2012. Then Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said at a meeting of the Governmental Cinema Council that Russian rental is degrading, and domestic films are replaced by cinemas under the pressure of American film products. It was not possible to solve this problem with the help of benefits, so support measures should be transformed, for example, into quotas, then the prime minister said.

Cinemas, distributors and domestic producers opposed this idea sharply against this idea; Most of them still say that administrative regulation of the share of Russian paintings will not lead to an increase in their cash register, the publication notes.

In 2013, two bills on the introduction of quotas were submitted to the State Duma at once. The author of one of them, Unitedos, Sergei Zheleznyak, proposed to oblige cinemas to give at least 20 percent of sessions under domestic paintings, and deputy Dmitry Litvinsev was 80 percent. Documents were not considered even in the first reading.

In April 2014, at a meeting of the Council of Cinema, officials again returned to the idea of ​​quota. According to the results of the meeting, Medvedev instructed the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry of Finance and the Film Film to work out measures to support domestic cinema in order to increase the share of Russian films at the box office and stimulate cinemas to show domestic films. The Ministry of Culture informed the government in response to the order that the situation with the rental of Russian cinema is good and no special measures to protect domestic films are required

At the beginning of this year, the Public Chamber proposed to establish a quota of domestic films in Russian cinemas of 40 percent. The Ministry of Culture decided to abandon this idea, since the introduction of quotas could hit the cinemas that fell into a difficult economic situation associated with an increase in the dollar. Then Medinsky said that Russian cinema could do without quotas. However, the minister noted that his department is ready to transfer the date of the premiere of Western blockbusters if they are released simultaneously with Russian "Bolts-Benes."

So, at the request of Medinsky, the Russian Blockbuster Premiere "Avengers: the Era of the Devtron" was postponed from April 30. On the same date, the release of the Russian film "And the Dawns here is quiet." “The request of Vladimir Medinsky“ not to crush ”was heard on April 30.“ Avengers: the era of Altron ”officially changed the date of exit in Russia - the picture now starts on April 23,” the distributors said.