Central Partnership’s Vadim Vereshchagin on Rise of Russian Genre Hits

Tom Grater International Film ReporterKirill Serebrennikov, the prominent Russian filmmaker behind The Student and Leto, has been found guilty of criminal fraud by a Moscow court after a controversial trial.Supporters of Serebrennikov claim the decision is politically motivated.

Christopher Vourlias Producer Ilya Stewart was in the early days of financing “Petrov’s Flu,” the latest feature from Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov (“Leto”), when he chose to bypass state funding bodies.

Christopher Vourlias Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for “Chernobyl,” a big-budget action film about the aftermath of the nuclear power plant meltdown, directed by heartthrob actor and debut helmer Danila Kozlovsky (“Vikings”).Following on the heels of HBO’s Emmy-winning series, “Chernobyl” is the first major Russian feature film to depict the fallout of the explosion that rocked the nation and raised alarms across Europe.

Russia’s best-known theater and film director, and his associates were charged with embezzling 133 million rubles (about $2 million) of state funding for a theater project. The prosecution on Monday amended the amount of allegedly embezzled funds to almost 129 million rubles (over $1.8 million) and asked the court to collect the money from the accused.

Christopher Vourlias The Key Buyers Event: Digital Edition, a virtual platform for Russian content hosted by film promotion body Roskino, wrapped this week with a slew of sales and an affirmation that global players are increasingly looking to tap into the Russian market.The online market welcomed some 600 international participants from 70 countries, with the largest number of buyers coming from the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Spain, Japan and China.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: The Riki Group, a leader in Russia’s animation market that has been operating for 16 years, has appointed Mark Zavadskiy to the role of CEO.He will be responsible for running the company’s business units including two animation studios, digital content production, licensing and publishing agencies.

Leo Barraclough Senior International CorrespondentShout! Studios has take North American rights to World War II epic “The Last Frontier,” while U.K. rights have gone to Signature Entertainment.

Christopher Vourlias In the weeks following the inaugural edition of the Key Buyers Event, a showcase for new Russian productions held in Moscow last fall, Roskino CEO Evgenia Markova reached out to scores of international guests who had made the trip to the Russian capital.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentKyrgyz and Russian director Nurbek Egen is best known for feature films “The Wedding Chest” and “The Empty Home,” and he more recently transitioned to TV with the 2017 series “Two Against Death.” He is now making a play for international audiences with high-end show “Sherlock: The Russian Chronicles,” produced by Russia’s Yellow, Black and White group, and penned by Oleg Malovichko (“Sputnik”).

Christopher Vourlias When Russian toon house Wizart Animation began enlisting collaborators for its upcoming series “Snow Queen: Keepers of Wonders,” a small-screen spinoff of the blockbuster animated film franchise, it wasted no time in recruiting talent from abroad. Brad Breeck, the composer from Disney XD’s “Gravity Falls,” came on board to assist with the soundtrack, while TV and comic-book writer Matthew Wayne was tapped as a script doctor.

Nick Vivarelli International CorrespondentWalter Presents, the expanding streaming service for non-English language drama, has acquired U.K.

A painting by the Russian artist Ivan Aivazovsky has sold for £2,295,000, becoming the highest value painting sold in an online-only sale.

Salford council is set to award Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom a £1.8m contract to supply the city’s schools, libraries and leisure centres over the next two years.