Mila Grekova, a Russian who had spent years interpreting Hollywood films, was unexpectedly laid off following Moscow’s military action in Ukraine. Disney, Warner Bros., Universal, Sony Pictures, and Paramount have all ceased distributing new films in Russia, leaving Russian theatres without the newest blockbusters.
Grekova, on the other hand, has not turned against President Vladimir Putin as a result of it. “Today, I despise the West, not Putin,” the 56-year-old remarked.
“Bollywood may replace Hollywood in Russia, but it’s too late for me to learn Hindi,” she remarked, alluding to India’s failure to criticize Moscow or participate in sanctions.
The violence in Ukraine has thrown Russia’s film industry into disarray just as it was beginning to recover from the plague.
And, like many other industries hurt by sanctions, the film industry is turning its back on the West, focusing instead on its own films or looking east to Asia.
According to the European Audiovisual Observatory, Russians are the most frequent moviegoers in Europe, with 145.7 million admissions last year.
Many people go to see Hollywood movies, which are frequently dubbed rather than broadcast with subtitles.
Prior to Hollywood’s departure, the Russian business Mosfilm-Master was dubbing roughly ten international films each month, largely in English. “We’ve lost two-thirds of our business,” Yevgeny Belin, the company’s director, told AFP in Moscow’s high-tech dubbing studio. “We had movies throughout the epidemic, but no theatres were operating. We have theatres now, but no films “he stated
Last month, Russia’s National Association of Cinema Owners warned that theatres might lose up to 80% of their earnings.
Mosfilm-Master is looking for translators from Korean and Mandarin, despite the fact that Belin “doubts that Asian films work for Russians” due to cultural differences.
“Westerners are closer to us,” claimed the 70-year-old, who has worked in dubbing for three decades.
Olga Zinyakova, president of Karo, one of Russia’s largest theatre chains, expressed confidence in the industry’s ability to recover. “It’s a bad position, but it’s not dire,” the 37-year-old added.
“If they are not allowed to participate in foreign festivals, Russians would abandon arthouse film, which provides a distinct perspective on the world, which is so valuable now,” he stated.
