Russian movies: 25% projects for government grants

A quarter of next year's cinematic endeavours will be entitled to federal grants, says Alexander Golutva, Deputy Minister of Culture in charge of Russia's Cinematographic Service, affiliated to the ministry.

An approximate total 700 project applications for features and documentaries have reached the Service expert commission for today, 359 of these to be launched next year. Moscow-based studios will work on 223, and St. Petersburg's 46-films and newsreel collections.

Several television serials will be dedicated to World War II history. Mr. Golutva singles out three of them-"A Great Victory", "Memorial Diary" and "The Finale".

A total 38 Russian-made films were offered to distributors this year, 32 of them on release.