Russian Film Commission Joins Forces with London-based 8K Mobile Digital Lab

FINAL RESOLUTION POST-PROD STARTS ON-SITE SIMULTANEOUSLY WITH PRODUCTION.
See details…

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Russia Launches Foreign Film Production Incentives

Russia launches 40%-cash rebate for international film productions. The law came into effect on November 7, signed by prime minister Dmitry Medvedev.

Conditions. The reimbursement of eligible expenses will cover travel, consular fees, employment of local professionals, film stage rentals etc. if foreign production costs in Russia are at least $235,000 or so for feature films / TV series, at least $59,000 for documentaries and about $78,500 for animation.

The incentive may rise to 40% for films shot in Russia within 19 days, or with $1.2M spent, or with predominant (80%) local crew hired, or if the titles cast positive image of Russia.

Nearly $1m fund is available prior to the turn of this year, $11.7m for 2020 and about $23.5m for 2021.

Rebates will be provided to foreign producers via associated Russian companies in-charge of services from the state-funded Russian Export Center, which operates under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture.

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TV Channel broadcasted documentary filmed in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan

Singapore. TV Channel U broadcasted 45-min documentary Fixer S2线人2 – EP10 we had filmed with Singaporean crew in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. 

This unusual account of the Dungans’ lifestyle caused curiosity and surprise among TV viewers in Singapore: this ethnic minority of Chinese Muslims settled in the-then Tsarist Russia about 140 years ago and still keep their traditions in the Dungan villages of the Central Asia.

A group of people in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, who speaks the ancient Shaanxi and Gansu dialects, called themselves the Dungan. They have settled down in the foreign land and influenced by the fortright nature of the horse-backed nation. Let’s us take a look at the culture and life of the Dungan.

在哈萨克斯坦和吉尔吉斯斯坦,有一族群自称为东干人。说的是古老的陕西和甘肃话。来到异乡,马背民族的豪爽天性,感染了离乡背井的东干人,风霜雨露,落地生根。让我们跟着线人一起了解东干人的文化和目前生活状况。

You can see a short trailer…

… or full movie in chinese

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Singapore TV Documentary on Dungans

April 29, 2018. The village of Tokmаk (74 km east of Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan) …Our TV crew arrived too late. We missed a vital episode for our TV documentary: the unique traditional preparation for an ancient wedding ceremony was over.

The star attraction of the episode WEDDING DAY ONE was 18-year-old Radziya Umarova proudly wearing her stunningly beautiful red bridal wedding dress. Her carbon black hair decorated with flowers enchanced the high contrast with her pale face. She was just about to cast the last glance at herselself in the mirror, admiring her just finished in an intricate traditional hairstyle ‘lova’ (‘crow’).

My crew entered a separate room for female Dungans crowded with girls and women. Some of them were sitting on a ‘kana’ (a high Dungan couch) watching the bride in admiration. Little girls were running around, making a lot of noise.

I had to use all possible arguments. including financial, to have the bride’s hair done up again for us. Luckily, the bride had a few hours to relax before the next part of the ceremony. So, Radziya sat still once again on the ‘kana’ and waited patiently while Rosa, a hairstylist, carefully disentangled the ‘lova’ and combed Radziya’s thick black hair again. Silence settled over the room. Showtime!

 

Within the next hour or so a new elaborate ‘lova’ was made and decorated with silver and gold jewelry as well as even more flowers. Now it looked as if a whole cherry ochard covered her head with blooms. Continue reading

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My most memorable trade show in 2017

London. December 5-6. The 3rd edition of FOCUS 2017 held at The Business Design Centre has turned out the only European free-to-attend high-level audiovisual trade show which I liked so much. This annual international convention for the global film industry offered very good business opportunities, even better than in 2016. As a result, there were lots of brilliant meetings with old good friends and with many promising contacts. This time I met many more Chinese film-makers and even a few Russian-speaking men and women, from Georgia, Ukraine, Lithuania and two London-based Russian ladies, both named Olga… all great fans of the film business.

NETWORKING was really excellent. The trade show provided easy-to-meet contacts with professionals from all sectors of the creative screen industries. Over 170 companies from 61 countries were exhibited at the event: European and international agencies, location and service providers, production technology outfits, film/TV production companies and, of course, film commissions. The Business Design Centre offered many very convenient locations for informal parties or facilitated meetings with a rear atmosphere of festive fun and hospitality.

THE FOCUS PROGRAMME was very informative. It was developed in consultation with BFI, BFC, PACT, APA, PMA, Creative Skillset, Animation UK, Games London, WFTV etc. Variety magazine was present at its own booth as FOCUS media’s partner. Other partners included the Production Guild, BECTU, LMGI, LPG, EUFCN, 1.4, AdGreen, Albert, Dresd and other exhibitors. For obvious reasons I skip mentioning the official sponsor of beer, cheese, ham etc. although I must admit, the quality was great. Continue reading

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