Russian Minister: Thailand’s film industry has the potential to progress
Thailand has given a warm welcome to Alexey Fursin, Minister of Moscow Government, Director of the Department of Culture of Moscow City, during his official one day visit to preside over “Moscow Film Days”.
From February 15 for three months, five Russian films will be screened at SF Cinemas across the country. “The Challenge”, claimed to be the first film from Earth shot in the International Space Station (ISS), premiered in Bangkok on January 29.
According to the minister, Moscow Film Days is another big step towards strengthening the bilateral relationship between Thailand and Russia. In addition, 2024 has been chosen by the Government of Moscow as the Year of Cultural Exchange between both countries.
One of Thailand’s soft powers, Thai film has recently gained international recognition, confirming critics’ and cinephiles’ opinions that 2023 was a golden year for the Thai film industry. While this can be partly attributed to the fact that several films grossed over 100 million baht, with some surpassing 700 million baht at the box office, it is worth noting that nearly 60 Thai films premiered in theatres and around 20 more were released through online platforms. The country has also attracted many international filmmakers, who have expressed interest both in using Thailand as a location and in screening Thai movies in other parts of the world on an international stage.
In an exclusive interview with The Nation, Alexey Fursin further elaborated on the two countries’ film industries.
Why choose Thailand for Moscow Film Days?
Russia and Thailand have warm relations filled with deep respect and mutual understanding. Over the past two years, much has been done to expand cultural and business ties among representatives of the creative environment of our countries. During the dialogue, we noticed a great mutual interest among representatives of creative communities, including the film industry. Cultural ties between the two countries are also actively developing.
Moscow Film Days are a kind of an open call for the entire Thai professional community, producers and directors, who are interested in cooperation, from distribution to the organisation of filming and co–productions. Both Russia and Thailand are actively working on the development of their film industries and are becoming more and more attractive for international partnerships. Moscow's goals are to present to Thailand’s achievements in the field of cinema, exchange experiences in this field and develop long–term partnerships. Over the past year, we have already successfully launched a number of joint film projects.
Moscow is mentioned as one of the leaders in the development of creative industries and especially cinema, what are its achievements and why can Moscow be called the “Cinema City”?
As far as I know, Thailand is also attracting producers due to its unique nature and filming locations. In 2023, more than 466 films were shot within Thailand by film crews from more than 40 countries, which is very impressive. What’s different is that in Thailand, film locations are spread around the country, while 90% of all films produced in Russia are shot in Moscow.
Moscow can reasonably be called the “Cinema City”, as it has rapidly become a major innovative global film hub. The city continues to gain recognition as a worldwide leader in the cinema industry. Moscow is also becoming one of the world’s centres of film production and a noticeable content exporter. Currently, Moscow can offer several film clusters where all types of content can be created. METMASH – the largest film cluster, media and fashion hub in the CIS spread over 24 hectares – is a prime example. Here, companies can organise and provide a full-cycle scale film production process service.
What kind of projects have been implemented over the past year to develop cooperation between the creative industries of Russia and Thailand?
The mutual interest of the creative industries of Russia and Thailand is growing rapidly. The main task now is to continue to find and develop new opportunities, and establish strong business and cultural ties between the Thai and Moscow creative and business circles. In February 2023, Moscow took part in the International Design Week in Bangkok and we saw the interest of the Thai audience in the innovative products from Moscow entrepreneurs. Last summer at Russian Creative Week 2023, Thailand had its own “Thai Pavilion”, which was open to all visitors in Moscow, and brought together the main directions of the country's creative industries – cinema, animation, fashion, textiles, jewellery, ceramics and other traditional crafts interpreting the historical heritage and cultural codes of Thailand's modernity.
In terms of attractiveness, what can Thailand contribute towards the film industry for Russia and other countries?
A delegation of Russian producers is also visiting Bangkok to discover more about the opportunities for partnership. Business matchmaking sessions are being organised to help companies from the film industry get to know each other, understand the mutual fields of interest and “match” for the future projects. Last year, we registered 10 Russian and 15 Thai companies, and this year, the figure was 15 of the biggest Russian companies and 50 Thai firms. During the Moscow Film Days cent, we will be studying the interests of Thai audiences, to understand the distribution potential.
Apart from “The Challenge”, the event features a historical drama “Heart of Parma”, action films “Raiders of The Lost Library” and “Upon the Magic Roads” and a fantasy movie “Reversible Reality”.
