SIMFEROPOL, March 23, /ITAR-TASS/. Crimean cinema houses hope to start working with Russian film distributors soon and show films in Russian, representatives of cinema houses of Simferopol, the capital of Crimea, told Itar-Tass.
A ban on running foreign films without Ukrainian dubbing was imposed in Crimea, where more than 80% of the population is Russian-speaking, was introduced in 2010 following a decision of Ukraine’s Constitutional Court passed in 2007.
Russian films were shown with Ukrainian subtitles.
The situation is expected to change when Crimean cinema halls switch over to work with Russian film distributors.
“We are studying the possibility of concluding contracts with Russian distributors. Today, it is hard to say when all films will be in Russian,” a representative of the Spartak cinema hall said.
“I do not know what a chain of Multiplex cinema halls that opened all across Ukraine in December will do no. Perhaps, they are going to switch into Russian too,” the source said.
So far, most cinemas in Simferopol continue showing films dubbed in Ukrainian. Out of ten pictures on advertisement bills only two are run in Russian, including one that is made in Russia.
“As before, most films in Crimean cinemas are in Ukrainian. Nothing has changed so far. There were practically no Russian-language films in Ukraine. Naturally, people would prefer watching films in their native language but we were dependent on Ukrainian distributors,” a source at the Shevchenko cinema house in Simferopol told Itar-Tass.
In the meantime, Russia has announced plans to create a federal university in Crimea in a year from now on the basis of the Tavrida National University, a leading classical academic university based in the Crimean territory, according to Natalya Goncharova, the Crimean minister of education, science, youth policy and sport.
She said that the federal university should be set up as soon as possible. “I think that it will take us a year at least but not everything depends on us,” Goncharova said, adding that a working group comprising Crimean and Russian experts had been created to deal with the issue.
“The creation of the federal university is a complicated task, which is not going to be solved at the level of Crimea’s Ministry of Education or the Crimean authorities. I believe that this question is in the competence of the president of Russia, which has nine federal universities so far,” Goncharova went on to say, adding that a decision to create the tenth federal university deserved high-level attention.
According to the Crimean education minister, the concept provides for the merger of several but not all basic institutions of high learning in Crimea with the Tavrida National University.
“Several universities will continue existing as separate institutions. They include the Medical University, the Engineering and Pedagogical University which was created as a university to restore the Crimean Tatar language and culture, and the Agricultural University, which has a very narrow specialization,” he said.
Goncharova noted that the decision to create a federal university in Crimea was aimed at unification of institutions of high learning and expansion of higher education programmes. Russian President Vladimir Putin, Vladimir Konstantinov, the speaker of the Crimean State Council (parliament), Prime Minister Sergei Aksyonov and Mayor of Sevastopol Alexei Chalyi on Tuesday signed a Treaty on Crimea’s reunification with Russia under which Crimea is considered to be adopted into Russia as a constituent entity. As a result, two new constituent entities have appeared on the map of Russia - the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol which has a federal status.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Malyshev, the rector of the Russian State University of Cinematography named after Sergei Gerasimov (VGIK), has suggested opening the institution’s subsidiary in Crimea, noting that Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinsky had approved the initiative.
The University already has subsidiaries in Rostov-on-Don, southern Russia; Irkutsk, the Siberia; Sergiev Posad near Moscow and Russia’s westernmost Kaliningrad region.
The University’s rector stressed the need to develop the Yalta film studios and the Yalta film festival.
The Russian State Institute of Cinematography was founded in 1919. It was transformed into a university in 2008. Most contemporary Russian filmmakers are graduates of this University, which is one of the world’s leading institutions to train professional film-makers.
Russian filmmakers, operators, script writers, actors and painters who graduate from the Russian State University of Cinematography work in more than 80 countries.