The Union of Cinematographers was offered to make remakes of Soviet classics

MOSCOW, July 5The Department of Cinematography and Digital Development of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation submitted to the Russian Union of Cinematographers proposals from the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation to create remakes of the famous Soviet films “The Cranes Are Flying” and “Alexander Nevsky”, as well as film adaptations of Tolstoy, Solzhenitsyn and Prishvin, the press service of the Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation reported.
The list of books proposed for film adaptation included “Sevastopol Stories” by Leo Tolstoy, the story “Matrenin’s Dvor” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn, “Girls from Vasilyevsky Island” by Yuri Yakovlev, “The Blue Dragonfly” by Mikhail Prishvin and works by 12 more Russian and Soviet writers. In total, the list included 19 books.

«The Union of Cinematographers of the Russian Federation received a letter from the Department of Cinematography and Digital Development of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, which contains proposals of the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation dated June 28, 2024 No. AZ-1397/06 on the film adaptation of historical works for the purpose of producing feature films for children and youth that contribute to the preservation historical memory and the formation of patriotism,” the message says.

The Ministry of Education also handed over a list of films for remakes, which included the cult film by Sergei Eisenstein “Alexander Nevsky”, films by Sergei Gerasimov based on the historical novel by Alexei Tolstoy “Peter I”, the children’s film “Dagger”, and the novel by Mikhail Sholokhov “The Fate of a Man” adapted by Sergei Bondarchuk «, a film based on Boris Vasiliev's story «Tomorrow there was a war», as well as «The Cranes Are Flying» by Mikhail Kalatozov. The list includes more than 30 films from classics of Russian cinema.

The Ministry of Culture added that such letters are sent to familiarize industry representatives with the proposals of the Ministry of Education. «In turn, the proposals of the Ministry of Education were sent as part of the implementation of the recommendations of the Federation Council to increase the production of screen adaptations of historical works for children and young people and are not of any mandatory nature with respect to industry representatives,» the press service of the department noted.
The press service of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia reported that the organization is not involved in film production, but is ready to provide expert support for these projects — primarily through the Guild of Film Playwrights.
«The solution to this issue in each specific case is seen as a special project session with the participation of scriptwriters, sociologists, historians, producers, distributors and other industry experts, the task of which is to form a dramaturgical concept for adapting the original, contributing to the tasks of preserving historical memory and patriotic education by attracting a mass audience,» the union noted.