The distant is beautiful: what kind of future will be shown in the cinema

Russians want to watch inspiring fantasy films. More than a third of young people admit that it is cinema that shapes their ideas about the prospects of humanity. This is evidenced by the results of a large-scale study "Sketches of the Future", presented by the National Media Group together with the CSP "Platforma" within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. NMG also decided to organize a futurological laboratory designed for dialogue between scientists and creative personnel in order to create an image of the dreams of the future Russian society. For more information, see the Izvestia article.

Images for the far horizon

What kind of image of the future should creative industries shape? What futurological ideas can become the basis for new projects in cinema and media? The discussion "Sketches of the future. How to model scenarios and images of the "beautiful Dalek", which took place as part of the SPIEF 2025 business program. The event focused on the research of the National Media Group and the CSP "Platforma" "Sketches of the future", which was presented by NMG CEO Svetlana Balanova.

— NMG is creating a futurological laboratory as a platform for discussion of scientists, representatives of society and creators from all creative industries. The study "Sketches of the Future" is the first project of the laboratory, it lays the foundation for further work and explores which images and ideas about the future can be used in art and inspire Russians. After all, taking care of the future is an important state and public task in which the creative industries can and should play a significant role," Svetlana Balanova noted.

The research is based on extensive work. 2,000 respondents aged 18 and over were interviewed; 50 expert interviews and a series of structured interviews with representatives of new generations (12-17 years old) were conducted; three expert sessions were organized: with representatives of the scientific and creative environment, specialists in the field of social disciplines.

One of the main conclusions reached by the authors of the study is the following: society needs a long—term image of the future - an essential element of the worldview that helps make sense of the current moment, inspires and warns of potential threats. But it is difficult to predict further than 15 years. Only art can fill the gap. It is in his power to saturate the distant horizon with images, maintain a brighter perspective, and create an inspiring emotional mood.

Post-Apocalypse — not today

An interesting observation was made in the study: cult film fiction is based mainly on dark, post-apocalyptic scenarios. The examples given here are Christopher Nolan's "Interstellar", Yorgos Lanthimos' "The Lobster", Doug Lyman's "Edge of the Future", and the total percentage of such "negative" screen stories about the future is estimated at 43.3%. Almost the same number — 41.7% — have an open—ended plot, that is, not a positive or negative forecast (examples are the popular franchises "X-Men" and "Men in Black", Nolan's "The Beginning" and "The Argument" ...). And only 15% of the tapes create a positive image of the future. This includes, in particular, the Russian painting "One Hundred years ahead."

From this observation, the authors of the study conclude that it is important to strive to balance the balance. At the same time, the expectations of the public, according to the survey, are completely different. 75% of respondents expect inspiring and optimistic images of the future from literature and cinema — a world in which humanity develops, overcomes difficulties and lives better.

Soviet fiction, literary and cinematic, can become one of the landmarks. In the public's mind, it is associated with positive, realistic images — 70% of respondents stated this. But the caveat is that the older the respondents, the higher the percentage was. That is, the assessment is clearly influenced by the nostalgia factor.

"Even within the optimistic world of Soviet fiction, deep pessimism can be felt: a lack of understanding of where everything is going next, a sense of the limits of knowledge and, possibly, the falsity of the path," the study notes. Therefore, "it is impossible to build a wave of designing the future only through the actualization of heritage." In other words, it won't be possible to simply reproduce the old experience. New things need to be created, and futurological laboratories that combine the scientific and creative environment will be useful here.

Svetlana Balanova stressed that Russia has a huge culture of building its own vision of the future. According to her, this story was based on Soviet fiction. She noted that Russia is the leader of a privileged club of a small number of countries that build their own images of dreams and the future.