Tatarkino in 2025: playing house, Bukhara, and sophisticated Turks

We want Ibn Fadlan!

In 2024, Tatarstan cinema was shown in nine regions of Russia: from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don, said the head of Tatarkino, Milyausha Aituganova. On warm days, films from the archives were shown in Kazan’s Aksenov Square, municipal cinemas, and on the streets of various districts — this tradition has been decided to continue. A separate festival, Archive Cinema for Children, was held, featuring films such as Tarlan. The third collection of the Milli Multfest festival is being prepared, where children make films in the Tatar language. By the way, federal projects like the Street Cinema Festival are also supported by this organisation.

Uzbek, Japanese, Hungarian, Turkish, Mexican and Chinese films were also seen in Tatarstan during the year. The days of Indian, Kazakh, Malaysian cinema and the days of cinema of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were held.

Among the countries with which Tatarkino cooperates, Aituganova named Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iraq, Morocco, Malaysia and Turkey.

“We held the Days of Tatarstan Cinema in Iraq and signed an agreement with the Iraqi Film Department, negotiated participation in the Baghdad Film Festival and the Days of Iraq in Tatarstan," the speaker said.

In Iraq, the cartoon “lmandar was shown, which received a rental certificate and is awaiting distribution in Russia. In the city of Babylon, the students liked him because, as it turned out, the Iraqi cartoons look very gloomy.

Another painting that has attracted the attention of Iraqis is Ibn Fadlan.

“Which is understandable, because it came to us from Iraq. But other countries are also interested, like Malaysia," says Aituganova. “Apparently, there is not enough such content. We translated the film into English and Arabic (it went to Arab countries). In Morocco, it was in French. My position is that all films in Tatarstan should be translated into several languages. Turks want our films. They took Tarlan to TRT, asked for Kuktau, Bibinur.They pay for it.

Iraq and Malaysia are also interested in Tatarstan cinema, she noted. Therefore, one of the tasks is to create a tone studio for subtitles and dubbing.

But negotiations with China are going on at the “apply for the Beijing Festival” level. It's more difficult to rent because of the strict censorship.

“We had a big press conference in Iraq," Aituganova recalled. “And several filmmakers asked a question: how do you feel about your work? Every country has its opponents and defenders. You can't treat this topic very simply.”

“It's hard to work with the Turkish side”

Negotiations are underway with Turkey at the film production level. Currently, Turks are reading Muhajirov by Mahmut Galyau, and they are also interested in Bolgar.

“It's hard to work with the Turkish side," Aituganova notes. “They have an independent cinema, without the support of the state. To get companies interested, you need a budget and a good rental history.”

These days, according to Aituganova, the first organisational meeting on the XXI Kazan International Film Festival Altyn Minbar was held. The cinema venue is still being determined, but it is already known that admission to the screenings will once again be ticketed. The opening and closing are going to be held in the new Kamala Theatre building.

Aituganova shared her opinion about the Soyuz Film Festival, which was held by the Union of Cinematographers on the basis of KazGIK:

“I don't know yet what the main purpose of the festival is: to show the palette of regional cinema or to attract young filmmakers? It's still hard to give estimates so far. Every festival has to live for five years to understand where it's looking at.”

Minnulin Cinema

In 2024, two films will be released in wide release — The Mountain of Lovers and The Silent Cuckoo. Both were featured on Altyn Minbar.

On December 20, filming of the film Әниләр һәм бәбиләр based on the play by Tufan Minnulin began. Directors Irek Khafizov and Yulia Zakharova, as well as screenwriter Aigul Akhmetgalieva, brought the action to the present. Filming, which is funded by the Preservation of the National Identity of the Tatar People subsidy, is scheduled to be completed by August 25.

In 2025, work will begin on the film The Teacher, which is being produced in collaboration with Uzbekistan. Salavat Yuzeyev will produce a film about Shigabutdin Marjani with a subsidy from the Russian Ministry of Culture. It is planned to make a rough installation by the end of the year.

“The fact that we obtained a subsidy is just a miracle. I wasn't hoping," admitted Aituganova. “As for the cinema fund, there must be political will. Everyone knows about our intentions and desires.”

According to Aituganova, 50 million rubles a year could be allocated to the fund, which is the budget of one film. Meanwhile, almost all significant feature films and documentaries have been posted on the Tatarkino website. There are only those that are currently in theatres; it is not possible to charge for them due to the limitations of modern websites. Meanwhile, Tatarkino is preparing a museum. MIR cinema will feature The Director's Apartment. And there will be a cinema room in the office at 3 Peter Alekseev Street.

“We want as many children as possible, organised groups, to know the history of cinema in Tatarstan and Russia," summed up Aituganova.

At the same time, there are no problems with film frames grown in Tatarstan — everything works. However, not everything is in Tatarstan anymore.

Suddenly, at the end of the meeting, the journalists remembered the film In May of 1944 (Кырык дүртнең май аенда) based on the novel of the same name by the national writer of Tatarstan Nurikhan Fattakh, filming of which began in February 2023. It is shot by Alexander Dalmatov, a graduate of VGIK. It turns out that the painting, unlike The Teacher, failed to receive a subsidy.

“They liked both the story and the actress, but they didn't get the interest to get the subsidy," Aituganova explained. “We talked about this topic with Dalmatov, anyway, we will finish it by the 80th anniversary of the Victory. Approximately 3 million rubles are needed.”