Cannes: Russian Cinema Fund showcases 18 films in Cannes

The presentations were grouped into three sections: animations currently in production, completed features and works-in-progresss.

Highlights included hit animation sequel The Snow Queen 2 (already selling well for Wizart); Wizart’s new animation property Sheep and Wolves; Ralph Fiennes starrer Two Women (sold by Rezo) [pictured]; the English-language thriller Bathory; and Orlean from The Horde director Andrey Proshkin.

The films presented were:

ANIMATION

The Snow Queen 2
Sold and produced by Wizart Animation, this 3D production will be delivered by the end of 2014. The first film was a hit released in several dozen international territories.

The Magic Tower
A 2D animated historical fantasy from Masterfilm, about a man with magical powers who realises that friendship is better than sorcery. Delivery set for November 2014.

Sheep and Wolves
To be delivered in spring or autumn 2015 by director Andrey Galat and producers Sergey Selyanov, Yuri Moskvin, Vladimir Nikolaev and Diana Yurinova. Wizart Animation produces and sells the 3D project, for delivery in spring 2015. The story follows a young wolf who wakes up as a sheep one morning.

Quackerz
ROME Animation Studio and Asymmetric VFX Studio’s animated feature about a group of ducks. It will be delivered in December 2015 and sales will launch properly at AFM. It will be prepared in the English language (a Russian dubbed version will also be available).

Kikoriki: Legend of the Golden Dragon
An 85-minute animated adventure comedy that will launch in Russia in late 2015 or early 2016.

COMPLETED FEATURES

Two Women
Rezo Films handles sales on Vera Glagoleva’s period feature that stars Ralph Fiennes and Sylvie Testud alongside a prestigious Russian cast in the adaptation of Ivan Turgenev’s play set in the 19th-century.

The Iron Ivan
Gleb Orlov directs this drama about an invincible fighter named Ivor Puddubny. It will be launched in Russian on July 10; Russian Television and Radio handles sales. It has shot in Paris, Kiev, Moscow, New York and Saint Petersburg.

The Witch’s Brook
This true-life action film, a Russia-Kazakhstan co-production, is about a group of convicts who escape from prison in Siberia at the beginning of the 20th century. It will be released in Russia this autumn.

22 Minutes
An action film sold by Central Partnership; it was released in Russia on May 2. The film is inspired by real events from May 2010 when a Russian tanker was overtaken by pirates. Actor Eebra Toone was in Cannes to present the project.

Territory
A production from St Andrews Flag that is set in 1960 in the far northeast of the Soviet Union, where a settlement desperately needs to find gold in their territory to please the government.

Fort Ross
Russian World Vision handles this adventure, set for release in Russia in June, which is a time-travel project where modern day journalists try to explain why Russia lost its territory in Alaska and Norhtern California.

The Big Game
This Russian, Italian and English language project, now in post, is directed by Stefano Lorenzi and is produced by Russia’s Liga and Italy’s Settimaluna. It tells the story of four stories in Florence that come together during a historic sports tournament.

The Kitchen in Paris
All Media also hosted a full market screening of this comedy, about a group of restaurant workers from Russia who try to start a new gourmet restaurant in Paris. The $5m project features affairs of the heart as well as haute cuisine.

The Present
This comedy is about Misha, a 30-year-old man who reluctantly makes his living as a kids’ birthday entertainer in a panda suit. At one part, one kid runs away and takes Misha with him.

WORKS IN PROGRESS

Orlean
Director Andrey Proshkin (The Horde) presents this $3m absurdist comedy/mystic thriller represented internationally by Volga Film. Igor Mishin (Silent Souls) and Natalia Gostyushina (The Horde) produce; the story is about a strange man who brings big changes to an imaginary small town. Sokurov’s frequent collaborator Yury Arabov wrote the script.

Fool’s Day
Bazelevs handles this “anti-corruption comedy” that will be released in November in Russia. The plot follows an indebted man and a debt collector who go on a road trip that leads them to an unexpected place.

Mafia
Directed by Sarik Andreasyan, Mafia is set in a futuristic Moscow where a reality TV show can lead to death. The film will shoot in Moscow and also fantasy sequences will shoot in Tenerife.

Bathory
The tale of Countess Bathory is updated in this English-language horror/thriller, now in post for a spring 2015 launch. The $2.2m feature stars Svetlana Khodchenkova (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) and Isabelle Allen (Les Miserables). Steven Schneider (Paranormal Activity, Insidious) is producing under his deal with Glacier Films.