The Ministry of Culture extends subsidy applications deadline until March 31

Earlier this year the Russian Documentary Guild announced the start of the submission and discussed main steps of the process as well as some new requirements. 

To be able to apply for the government support, applicants must meet a new requirement – that is, the film projects have to cover certain topics. Comparing to the previous year, the number of such topics has shrunk by two third. In 2014 there were 19 topics, now there are only 7. The Ministry said that the sharp reduction is a result of the recent budget cuts. 

Here is a list of the topics: 

- Stories of successes in business and production; 

- Stories about interethnic relations; 

- Military-historical stories; 

- Stories that oppose to extremism, terrorism, crime and corruption; 

- Stories that are dedicated to the Year of Literature; 

- Stories about medicine and well-being of the population; 

- Debut stories.

The authorities also identify the priority themes for the film production companies: 

- Inspiring and positive stories of success; 

- Crimea and Ukraine as part of the thousand-year history of Russia; 

- War Glory of Russia: victories and winners; 

- New life of classic literature; 

- Modern-day heroes fighting crime and corruption; 

- Russia as a multinational country; 

- The 100th anniversary of the events of 1917, the 25th anniversary of the 1991 August putsch. 

Every application will be checked in accordance to the new regulation. Then the successful applications will be passed on to the Documentary Films Expert Council. There are 39 members in the Council and most of them represent the professional community of documentary filmmakers. Based on their recommendation, the Department of Cinematography prepares a list of the selected projects. This list has to get an approval from the Ministry of Culture. Once it’s done, the Department of Cinematography takes over and prepares agreements on the provision and use of targeted subsidies to the recipients of the state support. 

Usually the mid-length documentaries receive 1.2 mln rubles; documentary films over 40 min in length – 2.5 millions. Films that are filmed with the support of TV channels and/or distributors can get up to 7 mln rubles. And last but not least, debut films might count of 1.0 mln ruble fund. However, the government covers only 2/3 of the expenses; the film company is responsible for the remaining 1/3. 

The information about the projects that will be supported by the state will be available on the Ministry website.