The Russian film industry enters the Vietnamese market

More than 30 Russian companies are taking part in the international film and television exhibition, Telefilm Vietnam, which opens on June 9 in Ho Chi Minh City and will be held in a hybrid format. For the Russian content industry, this is the first experience of such a large-scale interaction with the Vietnamese market. The main goals are to study the audience needs, to establish contacts, and to search for export opportunities. More than 100 projects will be presented at the Russian companies’ online stands, more than half of which will be series and animation; some companies will have an offline presence. Russian industry participation, under the Russian Content Worldwide (RCW) brand, is organized by ROSKINO with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation.

MOVIE POSTERS

Telefilm Vietnam traditionally gathers representatives from the entire Asian film and television industry. Content buyers from China, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, the Philippines, India, Singapore, are participating in the market. Telefilm Vietnam will run online until June 30 and offline from June 9 to 11.

Olga Lyubimova, Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation, says: “Vietnam is one of Russia’s key partners in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2022, we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Russia. The cultural aspect of this cooperation plays an important role, and the development of ties in the field of cinema and television will certainly be mutually beneficial for both countries. Telefilm Vietnam provides opportunities for Russian content producers to get to know the Vietnamese market, explore partnership opportunities. I am sure that the participants of Telefilm Vietnam will appreciate the rich palette of genres in which the modern Russian film and television industry operates”.

Inna Shalyto, CEO of ROSKINO (the Russian film promotion body) says “Participation in the international film and television exhibition, Telefilm Vietnam, marks the Russian film industrys first large-scale entry into the Vietnamese market. Vietnam is a country with which Russia is connected by cooperation in many different fields from tourism to education. There is also considerable potential for partnerships in the creative industries. Some Russian companies already have experience in this market — Vietnamese distributors have bought animation and documentaries and showed interest in our comedies, but in order to get a complete picture of the audiences preferences, more detailed market research is needed, and participation in such specialized exhibitions is a great way to understand the market and our potential there”.

FILMS AND SERIES

In the feature film segment, Russian participants will bring films of various genres to assess the demand from content buyers. Sports dramas will be presented at the virtual stands: Bullterrier from All Media (a START company), The World Champion from Central Partnership, Eleven Silent Men from Russian World Vision; the family films – A Dog Named Palma from Mars Media Entertainment; thrillers and dramas including The Riot and Behind Closed Doors from All Media (a START company), Homeward from Russian World Vision, and horrors – The Ice Demon from Central Partnership.

In the fantasy genre, international content buyers can get to know films that have already been released (Aeterna. Part 1 from Kinopoisk) and new ones (Red Riding Hood from All Media (a START company), the mystical drama Woland from Mars Media Entertainment, a film adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov’s cult novel Master and Margarita).

There is also sci-fi segment (Reversible Reality from Art Pictures Distribution, MIRA from Mars Media Entertainment), the historical dramas (The Oath and The Cry of Silence from IGMAR, and First Oscar from Central Partnership), the historical action movies (Litvyak from All Media (a START company),

Over 45 Russian series will be presented, including thrillers, dramas, comedies, and histories. Art Pictures Distribution, which will be present at the offline stand organized by Russian Content Worldwide, will show action films Sergeant and Varyag, comedy series Ivanovs vs Ivanovs and Brothers, and dramas Ballet, The Dolls, Happy End.

START brings a premiere sci-fi drama comedy The No Man Zone (the best launch of 2022 on the streamer); the sequel to the hit social drama series Container that raises a complex issue of the surrogacy, that first season was presented at the premium showcase of the most anticipated high-end drama series MIPDrama 2021 and also at the European festival Série Series in France.

Other series include the thriller Identification by 1-2-3 Production, which was included in the Berlinale Series Market Selects at the European Film Market 2022; crime dramas from the TV Channel Five (Detective Owl, The Fabulous Five, 48 hours) and NTV (Hitmans curse, Noble Detective, KAMAZ.Extreme Racing), historical dramas (Elizaveta from Russia Television and Radio, The Prisoner and The Golden Horde from Mars Media Entertainment) and many others.

Documentary content from Russia will also be presented to Vietnamese distributors, TV channels, and VOD platforms. Documentary films will be brought to Vietnam by Odin Media (KREMLIN: The Era of Tsars, Invisible Hope, The Great North Way, The Deepest Cave on Earth); Amex Media (Chip Inside Me); Sovtelexport, the official content distributor of Russia Television and Radio (The Highest Point and Yamal Nature Reserve).

ANIMATION

More than 30 projects will be presented in the animation segment. These include The Barkers-Team, Horse Julius on the Throne and Three Heroes, Moonzy (CTB Film Company), Monsikids, The Secrets of Honey Hills, The Adventures of Peter and Wolf, Mr. Theo, Cat and Dog (SMF Animation), Finnick, The Fixies, Beardy Bodo (Riki Group), Spaceport, Boo the Cat and the Good Boy (Parovoz Studio) and others.

One of the leaders in the Russian animation industry, Wizart Animation will be online and offline at the stand organized by Russian Content Worldwide. In the Wizart Animation catalog are two parts of the Sheep and Wolves franchise and five parts of The Snow Queen franchise, including the newest installment, The Snow Queen and the Princess. In December 2018, The Snow Qween 4: Mirrorlands made a sussessful debut in Vietnam in the largest cinema network in the region – CJ CGV Company. The Vietnamese premiere was well received after the success of the franchise in South Korea and China. Wizart Animation will also show the new comedy series, Tins Firebots, about the adventures of an unusual team of firefighting robots. The series was previously presented in December 2021 at Asia TV Forum & Market Online+, a major Asian television forum, and attracted the interest of TV channels and streaming platforms from many countries in the Asian region.

In addition at the online stand, projects will be presented by Digital Television Russia, MC2 Production, SREDA Production Company, Russkoe Film Company, LLC Red Square, Red Carpet Studio Kids, Paranoid Animation Studio, Platoshka Animation Studio, KINOLAND, Mechta Film Company, PRAD-media, and Friday! TV.

Russian Content Worldwide (https://rcw.online/ ) by ROSKINO is an umbrella export brand for the Russian content industry. Russian Content Worldwides mission is fostering international collaboration and cooperation, improving the transparency of the Russian film industry and establishing communication between Russian players focused on international markets and the international audience interested in new names, original content and new horizons in the area of film production.