= Bilateral cooperation =
India – a country with a rich history and great potential for international cooperation. From the latest news it becomes clear, What India and Russia strive to expand cultural ties. Diplomatic friendly dialogue between countries has been ongoing for more than 75 years. At the moment, bilateral cooperation is moving at an accelerated pace not only in the political and economic spheres, but also in the field of culture and art. As many as five Russian cultural centers are now registered in India.
Diversity of cultural heritage, which our countries have, explains the mutual attraction to getting to know each other.
Some joint projects have been successfully implemented for a long time:
- library and museum cooperation;
- development of contacts in the field of education;
- programs to strengthen relations between universities;
- joint theater productions;
- plans include mutual tours of creative teams.
At the moment, the Russian side has sent a proposal to India to launch a visa-free group tourist exchange, What, Maybe, will bring the people of both countries even closer together.
= Russia and Bollywood =
Changes for the better are clearly visible in the film industry.. Cinematography, in our opinion, very promising in this regard. Back in the era of the USSR, Soviet people were actively interested in the cinema of this mysterious country and watched Bollywood films with great interest.. Today, cinema in India continues to actively develop.
Executive Director, Producers Guild of India
Nitin Tej Ahuja:
India has the largest film industry in the world: about two thousand releases annually, 900 satellite channels and more 50 streaming platforms. The total turnover of the media and entertainment sector is 1,822 trillion Indian rupees.
Speaking at the 45th Moscow International Film Festival, Nitin Tej Ahuja spoke about the features of the Indian film industry and noted, that Indian authors are inspired by Russian films.
Director Anna Barsukova:
From my side, I am ready to confirm the interest of Indian viewers and filmmakers in Russian cinema. My first film dialogue with Indian audiences took place in 2018 year, when is my debut documentary "You are not alone!» was posted publicly on the Internet. Checking statistics and geography of visitors, I noticed that, that the largest number of views and likes are from India and Pakistan.
On that moment, I didn’t understand the situation and assumed, that this is some kind of search engine glitch. However, over time, views from eastern countries increased and the first personal messages from Indian citizens appeared. Representatives of Indian culture turned out to be very sociable and open people. They shared their impressions of the film, expressed their point of view on the topic of orphanhood and guardianship of disadvantaged children. I especially remember the message from my adoptive dad from India, who emotionally described his experience of adopting five children, showed me happy family photos and expressed gratitude for the film "You are not alone!».
Subsequently, sending their new films to Indian film festivals, I was no longer surprised by the good reception and high marks from the jury members. I realized, that the Indian people understand our film language. Moreover, the themes and visual presentation of Russian films evoke an emotional response in the hearts of viewers.
Worth noting, that in August 2023 movie of the year "Fine Line" was highly appreciated by two International Indian Film Festivals and received several prizes at once:
1. Royal Society of Television & Motion Picture Awards – the festival takes place in the Indian state of West Bengal in the city of Kolkata
2. Knight of The Reel Awards - location – Indian state of Telangana, Hyderabad city
We recorded a short video review for one of these festivals, choosing for location the most beautiful place in the Rostov region “Park-Loga”:
Anna Barsukova:
These are very valuable awards for me., emphasizing the special importance of building intercultural cooperation and strengthening friendly relations between countries.
Keywords: India, Russia, cultural exchange, cultural diplomacy, international cultural cooperation, strategic partnership, Anna Barsukova, Film Festival, winner, fine line, winner, Anna Barsukova
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