Viewers can expect time travel, exciting sports matches, and the intricacies of family relationships in films from the Russian Film Festival
The Russian Film Festival is opening up new directions: for the first time, screenings of Russian films, organized by ROSKINO with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture, are being held in southern Africa. From October 27 to 29, in the capital of Mozambique, Maputo, the NuMetro cinema will host free screenings of five films from Russia.
The Russian Film Festival program will introduce Mozambicans to popular films for youth and family audiences. The festival will open on October 27 with the sports drama Mr. Knockout by Artem Mikhalkov. The film is about the life of the legendary Soviet boxer Valery Popenchenko, champion of the USSR, Europe, and gold medalist at the 1964 Olympic Games. Mr. Knockout will take viewers into the atmosphere of the Soviet Union of the 1940s to 1960s. The film contains many dynamic scenes of boxing matches, filmed using modern technologies. The Russian Film Festival brought this gripping drama to China, India, Uzbekistan, and Armenia. The film was produced by the studio Kinodom, with the participation of the Rossiya TV channel and the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture.
Our busy movie weekend will continue with the comedy Family Budget from director Evgeny Abyzov—an ironic and witty guide to managing a family budget while trying to save. A mortgage turns the quiet and peaceful life of a friendly family into an adventurous, almost extreme, quest.
Another comedy Summer Time: Travel Back from directors Karen Zakharov and Armen Ananikyan takes the main characters, along with the audience, into the past. The story is about four teenagers who, at a famous children’s vacation camp, make a wish at a magic tree and are transported back to 1988. It will undoubtedly cause many smiles.
Time travel also awaits viewers of the fantasy film Chronos directed by Roman Prosvirnin and Dmitry Abolmasov. The film is based on the fantastic stories of the writer Kir Bulychev. The film takes place in the Russia of the past, present, and future.
The comedy My Horrible Sister by Alexander Galibin will be especially poignant for children who get new sisters or brothers along with the remarriage of one of their parents. These 10-year-old “sisters” are forced to build a relationship with each other.
After Mozambique, Russian cinema will be welcomed in South Africa, where screenings will take place from November 3–5.
Relations between Russia and Africa in the field of cinema received new impetus in 2023. In July, as part of the Second Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg, the festival “Africa. Together into the future” was attended by more than 6,000 viewers. Film screenings were an important part of the event: ROSKINO organized African Cinema Days as part of the festival, with the support of the Russian Ministry of Culture, and an educational seminar under the ROSKINO Academy brand. Experts from African countries expressed their intention to expand interaction with the Russian cinema industry, noting that there is potential for cooperation with Russia in such areas as co-production, education, film restoration, and film archives.
