June 05, 2024

Make Fairy Tales, not War


Make Fairy Tales, not War
The Aurora movie theater, St. Petersburg. The Russian Life files

According to Russian independent outlet Agentsvo, the state Cinema Fund and the Ministry of Culture have spent over R1.7 billion ($18.8 million) on fairy tale films released in 2024. This is a record and surpasses government spending on war films to be released this year.

In the first five months of 2024, Russia has released three fairy tale films: “Bremenskie muzykanty”  ("The Bremen Town Musicians"), “Letuchy Korabl” ("The Flying Ship"), and the sci-fi “100 Let Tomu Vperyod” ("100 Years Ahead"). Additionally, three more state-funded fairy tale films will be released later this year: "Vasilisa," "Ognivo" (“The Tinderbox"), and “Samaya Bolshya Luna” ("The Biggest Moon"), with the Cinema Fund spending half a billion rubles on them. In total, R2.2 billion ($24.3 billion) has been allocated for all fairy tale films released or set to be released this year.

Spending on fairy tale films has been on the rise since 2015. That year, about R200 million ($2.2 million) was spent on the genre. The share of government spending on fairy tales grew from 5.3 percent in 2015 to 36.2 percent in 2024.

In contrast, the government has spent R1 billion ($11 million) on war films. This year, five war films have been released: three about World War II, one about the commander of the Alpha special squad, and one about the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine: “Pozyvnoy 'Passazhir'" ("Code Name: 'Passenger'").

One reason for the increased funding for fairy tale films may be their greater popularity. Fantasy films released this year have gotten 15.5 million views. “Bremenskie muzykanty” was the most popular, with 8.3 million views. “Letuchiy Korabl” and “100 Let Tomu Vpered” each attracted 3.7 million viewers.

In comparison, military films drew significantly fewer viewers, totaling about 2.5 million. The most popular war film was "Vozdukh” ("Air"), directed by Alexei German Jr., about Soviet female pilots during World War II, which had 1.5 million viewers. “Komandir” ("Commander") about the commander of the Alpha special unit, attracted 490,000 viewers, and “Pozivnoy ‘Passazhyr’," about a Moscow writer who went to the war in Donbas, had 420,000 viewers.

Films about the Russian war in Ukraine have not been popular. For instance, the 2023 film “Svidetel” ("Witness”), which depicts fictitious crimes by the Ukrainian military, was watched by less than 50,000 persons, with an average attendance of five people per showing.

You Might Also Like

Disability Numbers Soar
  • May 30, 2024

Disability Numbers Soar

Disability numbers have seen a drastic increase since the beginning of the war. 
New Leonardos at the Hermitage?
  • May 23, 2024

New Leonardos at the Hermitage?

An exhibit backed by a close associate of the Kremlin claims, erroneously, to show paintings newly attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. 
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of Our Books

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The Frogs Who Begged for a Tsar (bilingual)

The fables of Ivan Krylov are rich fonts of Russian cultural wisdom and experience – reading and understanding them is vital to grasping the Russian worldview. This new edition of 62 of Krylov’s tales presents them side-by-side in English and Russian. The wonderfully lyrical translations by Lydia Razran Stone are accompanied by original, whimsical color illustrations by Katya Korobkina.
Woe From Wit (bilingual)

Woe From Wit (bilingual)

One of the most famous works of Russian literature, the four-act comedy in verse Woe from Wit skewers staid, nineteenth century Russian society, and it positively teems with “winged phrases” that are essential colloquialisms for students of Russian and Russian culture.
Jews in Service to the Tsar

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.
Turgenev Bilingual

Turgenev Bilingual

A sampling of Ivan Turgenev's masterful short stories, plays, novellas and novels. Bilingual, with English and accented Russian texts running side by side on adjoining pages.
Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

Faith & Humor: Notes from Muscovy

A book that dares to explore the humanity of priests and pilgrims, saints and sinners, Faith & Humor has been both a runaway bestseller in Russia and the focus of heated controversy – as often happens when a thoughtful writer takes on sacred cows. The stories, aphorisms, anecdotes, dialogues and adventures in this volume comprise an encyclopedia of modern Russian Orthodoxy, and thereby of Russian life.
Murder and the Muse

Murder and the Muse

KGB Chief Andropov has tapped Matyushkin to solve a brazen jewel heist from Picasso’s wife at the posh Metropole Hotel. But when the case bleeds over into murder, machinations, and international intrigue, not everyone is eager to see where the clues might lead.
Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar

Bears in the Caviar is a hilarious and insightful memoir by a diplomat who was “present at the creation” of US-Soviet relations. Charles Thayer headed off to Russia in 1933, calculating that if he could just learn Russian and be on the spot when the US and USSR established relations, he could make himself indispensable and start a career in the foreign service. Remarkably, he pulled it of.
A Taste of Russia

A Taste of Russia

The definitive modern cookbook on Russian cuisine has been totally updated and redesigned in a 30th Anniversary Edition. Layering superbly researched recipes with informative essays on the dishes' rich historical and cultural context, A Taste of Russia includes over 200 recipes on everything from borshch to blini, from Salmon Coulibiac to Beef Stew with Rum, from Marinated Mushrooms to Walnut-honey Filled Pies. A Taste of Russia shows off the best that Russian cooking has to offer. Full of great quotes from Russian literature about Russian food and designed in a convenient wide format that stays open during use.
The Moscow Eccentric

The Moscow Eccentric

Advance reviewers are calling this new translation "a coup" and "a remarkable achievement." This rediscovered gem of a novel by one of Russia's finest writers explores some of the thorniest issues of the early twentieth century.
93 Untranslatable Russian Words

93 Untranslatable Russian Words

Every language has concepts, ideas, words and idioms that are nearly impossible to translate into another language. This book looks at nearly 100 such Russian words and offers paths to their understanding and translation by way of examples from literature and everyday life. Difficult to translate words and concepts are introduced with dictionary definitions, then elucidated with citations from literature, speech and prose, helping the student of Russian comprehend the word/concept in context.
Russian Rules

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955