On April 16 and 17, Sandrine Brower and Marie Masmonteil, renowned French producers (“Elzevir Films”) gave master-classes at VGIK. The students of the Film Producing Faculty had been prepared for the talk by previews of two films: “Gett, the Trial of Viviane Amsalem”, shortlisted for the high-prestige American Golden Globe Award (directors Ronit and Shlomi Elkabetz), and “To Get to Heaven First You Have to Die” (coproduction of France and Tadjikistan directed by Djamshet Usmonov). 

On the first day Sandrine Brower discussed with the students the basic concepts of co-production and the ground rules of funding film production in France. The next day Marie Masmonteil dwelt upon the aspects of allotting the funds for the film production not only in France but all over the world. She also spoke in detail about the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, its selection procedure and the short-listing for one of the most coveted world cinema awards, the Oscar.

The master-classes held by the reputed French producers have made a considerable contribution to the professional upgrading of our students as part of the educational process in VGIK. These lectures gave an in-depth notion of film production financing in France and of the international co-production system.

The project was carried out in cooperation with the “uniFrance Films” and backed by the French Embassy in Russia. One must emphasize the remarkable role played in its organization by Mr Joel Chapron, Vice-President for Central and Eastern Europe, “uniFrance Films”.