MOSCOW, January 1. /TASS/. Nearly 5.5 mln people attended screenings of Russian films abroad as part of the Russian Film Festival project in 2022, the press service of Roskino reported citing the organization’s director general Inna Shalyto.

"In 2022, Russian movies hit the screens of 19 countries around the world, from Asia and the Middle East to Latin America and Australia. In total, we held 25 events, offline and online, including fusing together the programs of a number of international film festivals. The total audience of the Russian Film Festival in the past year reached almost 5.5 million viewers," she noted.

Sponsored by Roskino with the support of the Culture Ministry in 2020, the Russian Film Festival project introduces foreign audiences to the diversity of contemporary Russian cinema.

Last year, more than 1 million viewers watched Russian movies abroad. For the overall period of 2020-2022, the festival was held in 30 countries. The format of the Russian Film Festival includes both online screenings and offline events.

According to Shalyto, the final screenings of this year's Russian Film Festival were held in Turkmenistan. This was the first time that the Central Asian country hosted the Days of Russian Cinema under the brand of the Russian Film Festival. Other new countries for the project this year were the UAE, Jordan, Bahrain, Thailand, Serbia and Armenia.

"In 2023, we plan to increase the number of Russian film festivals and further expand the geography of the Russian Film Festival," Shalyto vowed.

Roskino represents Russia’s industry of audiovisual content on international markets. It is the main operator for the promotion of films, video series and animation as well as the creative potential of Russian talents abroad and co-production opportunities within Russia, its history goes back to 1924.