The Russian film industry announced the use of films by the West in the form of soft power

The West uses cinema as a weapon of "soft power": by bringing its projects to the global market, it imperceptibly broadcasts an agenda that is beneficial to the audience. The program director of the 46th Moscow International Film Festival (MIFF) told Izvestia about this on May 16. Ivan Kudryavtsev.

"The West, of course, uses cinema with its entire global distribution system as a weapon of soft power. <...> Perhaps directors will discover some new sources of financing for large ambitious projects, and NATO officials will be able to push a couple of notable films to the screen in the right key and in the right intonation," he said..

Commenting on recent meetings between representatives of the North Atlantic Alliance and leading figures from the film industry, Kudryavtsev questioned the existence of true freedom in Europe. Such a dialogue between "power and cinema", in his opinion, in the near future will give rise to projects that "would be interesting to look at" in order to identify the next Western messages to the world.

"A bet is being placed on dialogue with cinematographers, and cinematographers do not run away from this dialogue, although they grumble a little, giving leaks to the press," added the program director of the MIFF.

Another interlocutor of Izvestia, the general producer of the Triix Media film company, actor Sergei Shcheglov, explained that politicians resort to the media, cinema and television in order to influence the masses. However, according to him, such methods should not be abused, as they are obvious and can undermine people's trust in the authorities.

"Some countries, to a greater extent, to a lesser extent [influence the media] in order to influence their own population and the population of other neighboring countries through the mass media. This is a normal phenomenon, it is alive, it is healthy, there is nothing forbidden here. Another thing is also a delicate point, how much it needs to be used and for what purposes," he concluded.

For more information, see the program "Izvestia. The main thing" on Channel Five on May 16.

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