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Movie-theater owners say the government's protectionism is hurting their business and Russia's film industry

Source: Meduza

An association of movie-theater owners in Russia has published an open letter denouncing the Culture Ministry and Cultural Minister Vladimir Medinsky, who’s enormously fond of delaying foreign films’ premieres for the sake of domestic movies.

The cinema owners say the government’s protectionism amounts to “gross direct interference” in their commercial activity and actually harms Russian films. The letter even accuses Medinsky of restoring Soviet levels of censorship.

Most recently, Russia’s Culture Ministry delayed the release of “Paddington 2” and “Maze Runner: The Death Cure.” According to unofficial reports, the decision was made to reduce the competition for the Russian films “The Scythian” and “Going Vertical.”

In 2017, cinema owners and the Culture Ministry held lengthy negotiations over the release of “The Fate of the Furious,” ultimately agreeing to allow it to premiere on the same weekend as the cosmonaut movie “The Spacewalker.” Theater owners had to agree, however, to screening quotas for the latter film.

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