Industry program of the 10th Anniversary «Golden Raven» Arctic International Film Festival
April 09, 2026
The 10th Anniversary Arctic International Film Festival "Golden Raven," taking place in Anadyr from March 30 to April 5, is summarizing the results of its industrial program. Over these days, the capital of Chukotka has become a platform for professional dialogue about the future of the film industry in the Far East, the development of regional film production, international cooperation, distribution, the work of film commissions, educational projects, and the use of new technologies. Dozens of experts and specialists from Russia and foreign countries arrived in Anadyr to share their experience through master classes, an international film laboratory, and a strategic session of the anniversary festival.
The strategic session "Cultural Dialogue in the Arctic: Cinema as a Driver for the Development of Creative Industries and International Cooperation" was attended by Filipp Abryutin, Artistic Director of the "Golden Raven" festival; Oksana Lakhno, Leading Producer of the "Golden Raven" festival; Ekaterina Kuznetsova, representative of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug; Irina Belova, Director General of the Krasnoyarsk cultural institution "Yenisei Kino" and member of the jury for the "Kinovzlyot!" (Film Take-off!) competition; Elena Kutsenko, film critic, representative of the Crimean Film Commission, and member of the jury for the "Kinovzlyot!" competition; Roman Isaev, representative of the Association of Cinema Owners; Liang Jiashan, producer, brand director of the AI Film Institute (PRC), and member of the jury for the "Golden Raven" short film competition; Qiao Liang, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter, and member of the jury for the feature film competition; and Gülten Taranç, Turkish filmmaker and participant in the feature fiction and non-fiction film competition. The session was moderated by Maria Tokmasheva, Editor-in-Chief of the Russian portal Kino-Teatr.Ru.
"During the operation of the 'Golden Raven' industrial platform, we always want not only to talk about the path and development prospects of the festival itself but also to hear the guests who come to us, as we believe they can share their experience—both in terms of industry development and individual film commissions across the country, as well as the potential for international cooperation. We are only beginning to comprehend the journey of the 'Golden Raven,' which in ten years has transformed from a small film event into a festival that is interesting and significant to many. It is flexible, cozy, and in a sense, 'vintage' (lampovyi). It is about cinema, about viewers, and about dialogue," noted Filipp Abryutin, Artistic Director of the "Golden Raven" festival.
Oksana Lakhno, Leading Producer of the "Golden Raven," continued to talk about the specifics of the festival. In 2016, the review started only with the "FilmRising" program; a year later, the first Chukotka film festival "Golden Raven" was established, showing films from all over the country, and since 2018, the review has gained international status. This year, a feature animation section was added to the traditional competition programs of fiction and non-fiction films for the first time.
"Our film festival actually works throughout the entire year. It is not just about watching the competition program, which is currently taking place at the Polyarnyi cinema. Next week, the cultural program will continue for the viewers of Chukotka; they will be able to attend plays, concerts, and film screenings. We hold a large 'Golden Raven Film Marathon,' which lasts for six months and includes screenings throughout the entire Russian Federation. Moreover, this year we have expanded into the international space—we are showing 'Golden Raven' films in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, and we have plans for Turkey, Serbia, and Argentina. We are open to any cooperation.
Currently, by our estimates, we have 79,000 offline viewers, and we are actively developing the online space. For example, last year’s industrial program was watched by 2 million viewers online," emphasized Oksana Lakhno, Leading Producer of the "Golden Raven" festival.
She also noted an important component of the review—working with children and youth. Thus, within the framework of the festival, under the supervision of teachers from Soyuzmultfilm, a laboratory is operating for the third time where children create animated videos. These will be shown on the closing day of the festival. In addition, a documentary film laboratory and a screenwriting laboratory are actively working, the results of which included the short film "Atasikun. All Together," also being screened as part of the 10th "Golden Raven" festival. Over the ten years of the festival's operation, an entire generation of students has grown up through participation in these laboratories, mastering creative professions.
Chukotka, where the film festival has been held for ten years, is interested in developing regional cinematography and creative industries. Thanks to the dialogue organized within the "Golden Raven" festival, it expects to adopt the experience of creating film commissions from other subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as to consider opportunities for international cooperation. Ekaterina Kuznetsova, representative of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, spoke about this during the strategic session.
"First of all, I would like to talk about the active inclusion of the regional component in animation, as this opportunity will allow for the creation of ethnographic stories that will help a wide audience get acquainted with the unique culture of our region and create recognizable images that have the potential to become a hallmark of Chukotka. Certainly, we are interested in educational projects, including not only the development of animated series but also short information videos that also tell about the peculiarities of the traditions, nature, and culture of our territory. We understand that the festival itself is part of event tourism, so we would also like to develop this direction—for example, creating documentary films about the most popular locations in Chukotka. At the review itself, I would like to see more pitchings, panel discussions where current topics of rebates and film commissions, locations, logistics, infrastructure, and personnel can be discussed," noted Ekaterina Kuznetsova, representative of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Irina Belova, Director General of the Krasnoyarsk cultural institution "Yenisei Kino," shared the successful experience of the film commission and the rebate system. She said that a grant for documentary cinema has existed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory since 2014, which currently amounts to 10 million rubles per year. Furthermore, the region not only has an active film commission but also pays out rebates. 50 million rubles are allocated in the regional budget for such compensation to film crews. At the same time, based on the results of 2025, filming brought the region 186 million rubles. Several popular series have been filmed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in recent years, and one of the freshest projects is the film "Veselchak U" (The Jolly Fellow U), which is only just planned for release.
In Crimea, as local film commission representative Elena Kutsenko explained, the amount of rebates is much more modest—up to 10 million rubles. However, they are actively involved in assisting with the organization of film shoots. Thus, one of the recent films shot in the republic was Sergey Chliyants' "Veter" (The Wind), which received the Nika Award as the best film of 2025. However, Kutsenko considers it important for all regions not only to help organize shoots for Moscow-based film crews but also to have the opportunity to revive their own film production. Filipp Abryutin agreed with her, expressing hope that "Golden Raven" would become a catalyst for uniting local creative forces to create their own animated, fiction, and documentary pictures.
Qiao Liang, a Chinese filmmaker and member of the jury for the feature fiction and non-fiction competition, spoke about the possibilities of international cooperation.
"Chinese directors are constantly using various opportunities to surprise viewers. We have shot films in deserts, snowy mountains, and tropical forests, but we have never shot in the Arctic Circle. Endless landscapes like those in Chukotka simply cannot be found in China! For a director, this is called finding a location, and for a producer, it is an indispensable trump card that can be used advantageously. I’ll allow myself a joke: when Hollywood films the Arctic, it’s like sitting in a down jacket in a studio under a wind machine. Here in Chukotka, it is the real Arctic and real life, and the viewer is always able to distinguish true reality from playing at it," said Qiao Liang.
As specific forms of cooperation, he suggested considering three options. The first is when the Chinese team is responsible for funding, distribution, and the creative cast, while Chukotka provides locations and advisory support. The second is the "polar reportage" format, which involves filming documentary movies about the lives of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Such educational films of various lengths—from short clips to series—could well interest Chinese viewers. And the third, more complex module, is the use of local legends and lifestyle to create fictional cinematic works in various genres, including fantasy.
"In the eyes of Chinese producers, cold weather is not a problem but an advantage, and remoteness is not a disadvantage but an untapped treasure trove of plots. And I look forward to the moment when, hopefully, in the near future, on the icy expanses of Chukotka, one will be able to see film crew members from Russia and China, wrapped in identical thermal gear, shouting toward a freezing monitor: 'Stop, cut!'" concluded Qiao Liang.
Gülten Taranç, a Turkish participant in the feature fiction and non-fiction competition, also believes in the interaction of filmmakers from different countries. In Izmir, she founded and now heads a festival for women filmmakers, which includes a screenwriting school. This experience, Taranç believes, can be expanded on an international scale.
"Of course, making a festival in Izmir is much easier because we have no cold and no snow. But I am very happy to be in Chukotka because, despite the cold weather, the people here are warm. When I was a child, I heard about Eskimos, but I never heard the name 'Chukotka,' which I learned about only thanks to the 'Golden Raven' festival. I would be glad if we could be 'sister festivals' and expand our screenwriting school to an international level," emphasized Gülten Taranç.
The possibilities for international cooperation have expanded significantly in recent years through the use of artificial intelligence, which is becoming both a challenge and a tool that reduces project pre-production time and helps calculate distribution potential, believes producer and brand director of the Chinese AI Film Institute, Liang Jiashan.
"Artificial intelligence cannot replace talented people; rather, it acts as a lever that unlocks creative potential. It helps turn a resource-intensive industry into a more flexible production process. For example, in the field of conceptual design, preliminary storyboard development, visual effects, and sound design. By the way, the musical video demonstrated at the opening of the 'Golden Raven' festival, presenting the films of the competition program, was made with the help of artificial intelligence, as I learned, and it looked very cool," emphasized Liang Jiashan.
She added that AI makes the process of dubbing, subtitling, and voice-over easier for projects intended for distribution in different countries as well as for pitching applications on the international stage. Additionally, AI helps analyze scripts and form marketing plans for promoting a future project, which in turn is an important element of producer expertise and investment analysis. Liang Jiashan also sees potential in applying AI for the restoration and reworking of Soviet classics, and—importantly for Chukotka—in creating landscape backgrounds that can be offered to producers of movies, commercials, and video games worldwide. Furthermore, Liang Jiashan suggested creating a Russian-Chinese educational project in Chukotka related to studying the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Liang Jiashan also spoke about the prospects for developing international cooperation during her master class. Besides her, Belarusian producer Vladimir Karachevsky, head of the programming directorate for the "Listapad" festival and General Director of "Kinovideoprokat," spoke within the international film laboratory. He discussed the development of distribution, the prospects for co-production in CIS countries, as well as the specifics of communication between regions.
The topics of the master class and the speech at the strategic session also coincided for Roman Isaev, representative of the Association of Cinema Owners, who spoke about the problems of distribution and the opportunities it offers today for unique cinema created by talents from the regions.
"The problems in the industry are colossal right now: the outflow of viewers began in the COVID year, and since then, a huge number of people have moved to streaming and have not returned because many viewers have nothing to watch. I am talking about large commercial distribution now, not about the festival, which has its own fate, and we have many such worthy, bright, and powerful reviews in our country—they provide content to their viewers. Но we have lost Hollywood, which is impossible to replace, and there is a genre hunger because everyone has rushed into filming fairy tales, of which we already have an oversupply; therefore, 'The Maid' and 'Now You See Me,' despite their mediocrity, collect 1.5–2 billion rubles," noted Isaev.
He emphasized that the domestic viewer is "starving" for "middle cinema"—for example, detectives and thrillers—and cited Yakut films as an example, which consistently generate interest among local viewers and sometimes achieve better box office results than Moscow-based festival films, family movies, or animation. For example, the film "Karina" collected more than 50 million rubles.
"Taking into account the locations and opportunities that Chukotka has, I am sure that this region also has something to show in federal distribution; however, administrative support is indispensable here because logistics are still difficult. Но I am sure that Chukotka has a future from a production standpoint," emphasized Roman Isaev.
The Arctic International Film Festival "Golden Raven" is conducted by the ANO "Center for the Development and Support of Cultural Projects 'Golden Raven'" and the Production Center "Youth Initiatives" with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Vladislav Garievich Kuznetsov, the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Government of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, AU CHAO "Okrkinovideoprokat" (Polyarnyi cinema), and the Union of Cinematographers of Russia.
The 10th Anniversary Arctic International Film Festival "Golden Raven," taking place in Anadyr from March 30 to April 5, is summarizing the results of its industrial program. Over these days, the capital of Chukotka has become a platform for professional dialogue about the future of the film industry in the Far East, the development of regional film production, international cooperation, distribution, the work of film commissions, educational projects, and the use of new technologies. Dozens of experts and specialists from Russia and foreign countries arrived in Anadyr to share their experience through master classes, an international film laboratory, and a strategic session of the anniversary festival.
The strategic session "Cultural Dialogue in the Arctic: Cinema as a Driver for the Development of Creative Industries and International Cooperation" was attended by Filipp Abryutin, Artistic Director of the "Golden Raven" festival; Oksana Lakhno, Leading Producer of the "Golden Raven" festival; Ekaterina Kuznetsova, representative of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug; Irina Belova, Director General of the Krasnoyarsk cultural institution "Yenisei Kino" and member of the jury for the "Kinovzlyot!" (Film Take-off!) competition; Elena Kutsenko, film critic, representative of the Crimean Film Commission, and member of the jury for the "Kinovzlyot!" competition; Roman Isaev, representative of the Association of Cinema Owners; Liang Jiashan, producer, brand director of the AI Film Institute (PRC), and member of the jury for the "Golden Raven" short film competition; Qiao Liang, Chinese director, producer, and screenwriter, and member of the jury for the feature film competition; and Gülten Taranç, Turkish filmmaker and participant in the feature fiction and non-fiction film competition. The session was moderated by Maria Tokmasheva, Editor-in-Chief of the Russian portal Kino-Teatr.Ru.
"During the operation of the 'Golden Raven' industrial platform, we always want not only to talk about the path and development prospects of the festival itself but also to hear the guests who come to us, as we believe they can share their experience—both in terms of industry development and individual film commissions across the country, as well as the potential for international cooperation. We are only beginning to comprehend the journey of the 'Golden Raven,' which in ten years has transformed from a small film event into a festival that is interesting and significant to many. It is flexible, cozy, and in a sense, 'vintage' (lampovyi). It is about cinema, about viewers, and about dialogue," noted Filipp Abryutin, Artistic Director of the "Golden Raven" festival.
Oksana Lakhno, Leading Producer of the "Golden Raven," continued to talk about the specifics of the festival. In 2016, the review started only with the "FilmRising" program; a year later, the first Chukotka film festival "Golden Raven" was established, showing films from all over the country, and since 2018, the review has gained international status. This year, a feature animation section was added to the traditional competition programs of fiction and non-fiction films for the first time.
"Our film festival actually works throughout the entire year. It is not just about watching the competition program, which is currently taking place at the Polyarnyi cinema. Next week, the cultural program will continue for the viewers of Chukotka; they will be able to attend plays, concerts, and film screenings. We hold a large 'Golden Raven Film Marathon,' which lasts for six months and includes screenings throughout the entire Russian Federation. Moreover, this year we have expanded into the international space—we are showing 'Golden Raven' films in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, and we have plans for Turkey, Serbia, and Argentina. We are open to any cooperation.
Currently, by our estimates, we have 79,000 offline viewers, and we are actively developing the online space. For example, last year’s industrial program was watched by 2 million viewers online," emphasized Oksana Lakhno, Leading Producer of the "Golden Raven" festival.
She also noted an important component of the review—working with children and youth. Thus, within the framework of the festival, under the supervision of teachers from Soyuzmultfilm, a laboratory is operating for the third time where children create animated videos. These will be shown on the closing day of the festival. In addition, a documentary film laboratory and a screenwriting laboratory are actively working, the results of which included the short film "Atasikun. All Together," also being screened as part of the 10th "Golden Raven" festival. Over the ten years of the festival's operation, an entire generation of students has grown up through participation in these laboratories, mastering creative professions.
Chukotka, where the film festival has been held for ten years, is interested in developing regional cinematography and creative industries. Thanks to the dialogue organized within the "Golden Raven" festival, it expects to adopt the experience of creating film commissions from other subjects of the Russian Federation, as well as to consider opportunities for international cooperation. Ekaterina Kuznetsova, representative of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, spoke about this during the strategic session.
"First of all, I would like to talk about the active inclusion of the regional component in animation, as this opportunity will allow for the creation of ethnographic stories that will help a wide audience get acquainted with the unique culture of our region and create recognizable images that have the potential to become a hallmark of Chukotka. Certainly, we are interested in educational projects, including not only the development of animated series but also short information videos that also tell about the peculiarities of the traditions, nature, and culture of our territory. We understand that the festival itself is part of event tourism, so we would also like to develop this direction—for example, creating documentary films about the most popular locations in Chukotka. At the review itself, I would like to see more pitchings, panel discussions where current topics of rebates and film commissions, locations, logistics, infrastructure, and personnel can be discussed," noted Ekaterina Kuznetsova, representative of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug.
Irina Belova, Director General of the Krasnoyarsk cultural institution "Yenisei Kino," shared the successful experience of the film commission and the rebate system. She said that a grant for documentary cinema has existed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory since 2014, which currently amounts to 10 million rubles per year. Furthermore, the region not only has an active film commission but also pays out rebates. 50 million rubles are allocated in the regional budget for such compensation to film crews. At the same time, based on the results of 2025, filming brought the region 186 million rubles. Several popular series have been filmed in the Krasnoyarsk Territory in recent years, and one of the freshest projects is the film "Veselchak U" (The Jolly Fellow U), which is only just planned for release.
In Crimea, as local film commission representative Elena Kutsenko explained, the amount of rebates is much more modest—up to 10 million rubles. However, they are actively involved in assisting with the organization of film shoots. Thus, one of the recent films shot in the republic was Sergey Chliyants' "Veter" (The Wind), which received the Nika Award as the best film of 2025. However, Kutsenko considers it important for all regions not only to help organize shoots for Moscow-based film crews but also to have the opportunity to revive their own film production. Filipp Abryutin agreed with her, expressing hope that "Golden Raven" would become a catalyst for uniting local creative forces to create their own animated, fiction, and documentary pictures.
Qiao Liang, a Chinese filmmaker and member of the jury for the feature fiction and non-fiction competition, spoke about the possibilities of international cooperation.
"Chinese directors are constantly using various opportunities to surprise viewers. We have shot films in deserts, snowy mountains, and tropical forests, but we have never shot in the Arctic Circle. Endless landscapes like those in Chukotka simply cannot be found in China! For a director, this is called finding a location, and for a producer, it is an indispensable trump card that can be used advantageously. I’ll allow myself a joke: when Hollywood films the Arctic, it’s like sitting in a down jacket in a studio under a wind machine. Here in Chukotka, it is the real Arctic and real life, and the viewer is always able to distinguish true reality from playing at it," said Qiao Liang.
As specific forms of cooperation, he suggested considering three options. The first is when the Chinese team is responsible for funding, distribution, and the creative cast, while Chukotka provides locations and advisory support. The second is the "polar reportage" format, which involves filming documentary movies about the lives of the indigenous peoples of the Arctic. Such educational films of various lengths—from short clips to series—could well interest Chinese viewers. And the third, more complex module, is the use of local legends and lifestyle to create fictional cinematic works in various genres, including fantasy.
"In the eyes of Chinese producers, cold weather is not a problem but an advantage, and remoteness is not a disadvantage but an untapped treasure trove of plots. And I look forward to the moment when, hopefully, in the near future, on the icy expanses of Chukotka, one will be able to see film crew members from Russia and China, wrapped in identical thermal gear, shouting toward a freezing monitor: 'Stop, cut!'" concluded Qiao Liang.
Gülten Taranç, a Turkish participant in the feature fiction and non-fiction competition, also believes in the interaction of filmmakers from different countries. In Izmir, she founded and now heads a festival for women filmmakers, which includes a screenwriting school. This experience, Taranç believes, can be expanded on an international scale.
"Of course, making a festival in Izmir is much easier because we have no cold and no snow. But I am very happy to be in Chukotka because, despite the cold weather, the people here are warm. When I was a child, I heard about Eskimos, but I never heard the name 'Chukotka,' which I learned about only thanks to the 'Golden Raven' festival. I would be glad if we could be 'sister festivals' and expand our screenwriting school to an international level," emphasized Gülten Taranç.
The possibilities for international cooperation have expanded significantly in recent years through the use of artificial intelligence, which is becoming both a challenge and a tool that reduces project pre-production time and helps calculate distribution potential, believes producer and brand director of the Chinese AI Film Institute, Liang Jiashan.
"Artificial intelligence cannot replace talented people; rather, it acts as a lever that unlocks creative potential. It helps turn a resource-intensive industry into a more flexible production process. For example, in the field of conceptual design, preliminary storyboard development, visual effects, and sound design. By the way, the musical video demonstrated at the opening of the 'Golden Raven' festival, presenting the films of the competition program, was made with the help of artificial intelligence, as I learned, and it looked very cool," emphasized Liang Jiashan.
She added that AI makes the process of dubbing, subtitling, and voice-over easier for projects intended for distribution in different countries as well as for pitching applications on the international stage. Additionally, AI helps analyze scripts and form marketing plans for promoting a future project, which in turn is an important element of producer expertise and investment analysis. Liang Jiashan also sees potential in applying AI for the restoration and reworking of Soviet classics, and—importantly for Chukotka—in creating landscape backgrounds that can be offered to producers of movies, commercials, and video games worldwide. Furthermore, Liang Jiashan suggested creating a Russian-Chinese educational project in Chukotka related to studying the possibilities of artificial intelligence.
Liang Jiashan also spoke about the prospects for developing international cooperation during her master class. Besides her, Belarusian producer Vladimir Karachevsky, head of the programming directorate for the "Listapad" festival and General Director of "Kinovideoprokat," spoke within the international film laboratory. He discussed the development of distribution, the prospects for co-production in CIS countries, as well as the specifics of communication between regions.
The topics of the master class and the speech at the strategic session also coincided for Roman Isaev, representative of the Association of Cinema Owners, who spoke about the problems of distribution and the opportunities it offers today for unique cinema created by talents from the regions.
"The problems in the industry are colossal right now: the outflow of viewers began in the COVID year, and since then, a huge number of people have moved to streaming and have not returned because many viewers have nothing to watch. I am talking about large commercial distribution now, not about the festival, which has its own fate, and we have many such worthy, bright, and powerful reviews in our country—they provide content to their viewers. Но we have lost Hollywood, which is impossible to replace, and there is a genre hunger because everyone has rushed into filming fairy tales, of which we already have an oversupply; therefore, 'The Maid' and 'Now You See Me,' despite their mediocrity, collect 1.5–2 billion rubles," noted Isaev.
He emphasized that the domestic viewer is "starving" for "middle cinema"—for example, detectives and thrillers—and cited Yakut films as an example, which consistently generate interest among local viewers and sometimes achieve better box office results than Moscow-based festival films, family movies, or animation. For example, the film "Karina" collected more than 50 million rubles.
"Taking into account the locations and opportunities that Chukotka has, I am sure that this region also has something to show in federal distribution; however, administrative support is indispensable here because logistics are still difficult. Но I am sure that Chukotka has a future from a production standpoint," emphasized Roman Isaev.
The Arctic International Film Festival "Golden Raven" is conducted by the ANO "Center for the Development and Support of Cultural Projects 'Golden Raven'" and the Production Center "Youth Initiatives" with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, the Governor of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug Vladislav Garievich Kuznetsov, the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives, the Government of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Chukotka Autonomous Okrug, AU CHAO "Okrkinovideoprokat" (Polyarnyi cinema), and the Union of Cinematographers of Russia.