From June 8 to 10 in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, the international film market Telefilm Vietnam will be held. The Russian film industry will be represented at the joint Russian Content Worldwide (RCW) stand organized by ROSKINO, the Russian film promotion body. Eighteen companies will present more than 80 projects—films, series, and animation—to international content buyers. New releases include The Challenge, the first feature film to be shot in space; a new adventure drama Lost in The North about a woman lost in the taiga; the series Ballet about backstage life; an animated series for teenagers The Steel Family: Brotherhood vs Gold; the full-length animated film Detective Chirp & the Golden Beehive, the series Chaliapin about the great opera singer Fyodor Chaliapin, the action-packed thriller Centaur, and many others.
Content buyers from Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, China and other countries will take part in Telefilm Vietnam 2023.
Acting CEO of ROSKINO, Ekaterina Naumova, says, “Last year, the Russian film industry for the first time was widely represented at Telefilm Vietnam, mainly online, and this was our first acquaintance with this market. As a result of participation, international buyers have become interested in Russian animation projects, documentaries, action films, and comedies, as well as buying format rights to Russian series. This year, in order to more effectively use the opportunities of the film market and build cooperation with local TV channels, VOD platforms and distributors, we are organizing a large-scale offline presence of leading Russian content producers. This format will allow them to personally meet with potential partners, enhance interaction with foreign colleagues, with whom the dialogue was carried out online. Russian companies will present a lot of serial and animated content, as well as large-scale feature films in various genres. We hope that this year the demand for projects from Russia will be much stronger.”
FILMS AND SERIES
Russian companies will present more than 20 feature films in Vietnam. The main focus of the participants is on drama and action. Among the films to be presented to international content buyers as part of a special presentation organized by ROSKINO is The Challenge (Central Partnership), which has already entered the top 50 highest-grossing films in the world in 2023; the new thriller Centaur (Planeta Inform Film Distribution); the football drama Eleven Silent Men (Pimanov & Partners).
The adventure drama Lost In The North, based on real events, about a woman who joined the Siberian nomads (Planeta Inform Film Distribution) will also be presented at Telefilm Vietnam as well as a number of action-packed thrillers – the films Like A Man and Who’s there? (Central Partnership), and others. In addition, the trove of Russian content also includes the sci-fi movies (Reversible Reality from Art Pictures Distribution).
Asian distributors will be able to get to know the films of debutant directors from the company Stella Release and the production center VGIK-Debut. As part of the showcase, the romantic drama Longer Than A Day will be shown which tells the love story of a Kazakh girl and a French travel photographer. The catalog also has the youth dramas Ada and The Secret Passion; and a drama about the prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre, The Four Seasons, the directorial debut of world figure skating champion and 2010 Olympic bronze medalist Maxim Shabalin.
A wide range of serial content from Russian companies will also be presented. 35 projects of different genres, including: the comedy hit Eva in Labor, the anti-utopian The No Man Zone, and Sisters from START online cinema; the series Happy End from Art Pictures Distribution, The Kidney and Padre Sergius from KION, Married Life Scenes and Alibi from Sreda production company, and The Right Guy to Marry from Russkoe Film Company.
The historical genre is represented by the large-scale adventure drama Elizaveta and the biographical drama Chaliapin (Russia Television and Radio), the historical detective drama Noble Detective and the drama Unsung Hero (NTV Broadcasting Company); Union of Salvation. The Age of Wrath (KION), and the biographical dramas Margarita Nazarova (ODIN-MEDIA) and Zhukov (Pimanov&Partners).
The Russian content includes many strong popular drama series. In Vietnam, international representatives will see the dramas Patient Zero (Sreda production company), Passengers. The Last Love on Earth (START online cinema), the sports drama Home Base (Art Pictures Distribution), Cloister (Russia Television and Radio), the second season of the TV series Psychic (ODIN-MEDIA). Among the novelties are the drama The Cruel World of Men (Russkoe Film Company) and Ballet (Art Pictures Distribution).
Documentary content from Russia is also in demand in Asia, and Russian companies are presenting many projects at the film market. They include a range of themes: environmental (Invisible Hope from Odin-Media); historical (Unknown Kremlin. Stories, Legends, Facts and Kremlin-9. June 41st. Unmarked Secret from Pimanov&Partners); and nature and travel (The Highest Point from Russia Television and Radio and The Great North Way and Depth Hunters from ODIN-MEDIA).
ANIMATION
Traditionally, Russian animation producers perform strongly at film markets. Six Russian companies will bring their projects to Vietnam. At a special presentation organized by ROSKINO, international content buyers will see a number of new animation projects. These are the animated series for teenagers The Steel Family: Brotherhood vs Gold (Voronezh Animation studio) and the full-length animated film Detective Chirp & the Golden Beehive (SMF Animation). This project has recently been released internationally and will be shown in the Middle East, Turkey, Cyprus, Serbia, Croatia, Macedonia, and Bulgaria.
The presentation will also include the animated series Fixies (Riki Group). Last year, BabyRiki, KikoRiki, and PinCode became available in Vietnamese on FTP Play. This year, Riki Group plans to negotiate the sale of new seasons of the Fixies project, whose characters are well known to young viewers in Asia.
International representatives will also be able to see: Champies from Digital Television Russia, Team M.A.T.C.H. from YARKO and the full-length cartoon Space Dogs. Tropical Adventure from KinoAtis. In total, Russian animation companies will present 25 projects at the Telefilm Vietnam market.