No  Choice  of  Films: russians Watch What They Are Allowed to

After the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, russia found itself in cultural isolation. Hollywood studios and international companies stopped supplying content, and now up to 80 % of movie screenings in russia are domestic productions – mostly films with state funding and ideological undertones.

To watch world premieres, russians resort to “parallel imports” – films arrive with a delay through distributors from friendly countries. The market is partly filled with films from India and China, which already account for 30 % of the foreign film segment.

Despite the growth in domestic production, russian films are not successful. For example, the sports propaganda drama “Rodnina”, financed by the state with a budget of $5.65 million, grossed only $2.7 million at the box office. Nevertheless, films promoting official narratives – from historical reconstructions to military themes – continue to dominate cinemas.

On March 1, 2026, a law will come into force allowing the ministry of culture to refuse to issue distribution certificates to films that “negatively affect” traditional values. Both soviet classics and Western films, including works by Fincher, Tarantino, and Scorsese, are under threat.

russian distributors already practice censorship of foreign films: before screening, they cut scenes that may contradict official ideology. As a result, the length of films is reduced by 10-20  %, and the content is changed without the consent of the copyright holders.

More than 70 % of cinema audiences in russia are young people under the age of 25. With limited access to global content, the worldview of the new generation is shaped mainly by propaganda films.