Transcontinental Film Train: Routing Best Practices for Joint International Projects
Cinema is the universal language of cultural diplomacy today.
Points for discussion:
• Over the past few years there has been a significant shift away from a focus on the markets of the United States and Europe towards China, India, Turkey, the countries of the Middle East, Latin America, and the Balkans.
• In 2025 and 2026, the Russian film industry is showing growth in the number of joint projects with friendly countries, with more and more Russian films and television shows being made in China, India, Serbia, and elsewhere.
• Other challenges include the language barrier and the localization of humour. Adapting scripts so that humour and drama register with international audiences without a loss of meaning requires a great deal of effort.
• The complexity of international film and television projects stems from the particular character of different markets and from the fragmentation of the media landscape and distribution. Promotional strategies differ radically.
• The main challenges of the coming years are to turn the growth in the number of joint international projects into a qualitative industrial system and to build a strong brand for Russian cinema.