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Russian cinema sees 70% hike in moviegoers over four years

47.4 mln viewers watched Russian movies in cinemas in 2016

© Stanislav Krasilnikov/TASS

MOSCOW, December 11. /TASS/. President of the Russian Filmmakers Union Nikita Mikhalkov has addressed its 10th Congress, presenting statistics for the period since the previous session, held in 2013.

"What issues did we discuss in 2013?" Mikhalkov asked. "The lack of movie theaters, expensive tickets, and the inability of our movies to perform well at the box office. Since then, enormous work has been done, particularly by the Russian Culture Ministry," he added.

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According to Mikhalkov, in 2012, a total of 28.6 mln viewers had watched Russian movies in cinemas, whereas in 2016 that number grew to 47.4 mln. "The amount of viewers attracted by Russian movies increased by 70%, which is a record high for the past 25 years," he pointed out. The Russian Filmmakers Union president added that movies such as Posledny Bogatyr (or The Last Warrior), Stalingrad, Viking and Ekipazh (or Flight Crew) were the most successful ones.

At the same time, Mikhalkov touched upon independent, or indie films. "The film’s author is the one who should have the right to the author's view, not those who don’t know how to make movies but claim to make independent pictures," he noted.

In 2012, in Mikhalkov’s words, there were 1,000 movie theaters in Russia, while in 2016 there were 1,700. As for cinema ticket prices, in 2012, the movie ticket was 225 rubles ($7.5), while in 2016 the price was 250 rubles ($4.3). "These are among the lowest prices in Europe," Mikhalkov noted.

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