Enjoying another novelty in the cinema, citizens rarely think about how long the picture goes from developers to the audience. Mountains of documents, the complicated procedure of obtaining a rental certificate for a film, the search for a distributor - all this is only a small part of the general procedure. Our article will describe in detail how foreign and domestic cinema are allowed to be shown.
A little attention will be paid to the problems of domestic cinema. Why did the Ministry of Culture issue a rental certificate for the film "Matilda"? Which movie is considered officially banned? All of these questions will be answered.
Movie rental certificate - what is it?
In 2014, a new article 5.1 was introduced into the 1996 Federal Law "On State Support for Cinema in Russia". It contains information about an important document - a rental certificate. The article says that the screening and rental of a film without an appropriate certificate is strictly prohibited. The only exceptions are television and international festivals.
Renting a movie involves showing it in a network of cinemas across the country. To implement such a show, the Ministry of Culture must provide a special document. The final product must be legal, that is, meet a number of criteria. Only in this case, the Ministry of Culture will issue a rental certificate for the film.
Documents for obtaining an identity card
The Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation fixes the list of documents that must be submitted in order to obtain a certificate. All papers must be filed in a cardboard folder, on the cover of which should be the name of the company and product (film). Here is the complete list:
- application for a certificate;
- copy of identity document of an individual;
- Copy from Unified State Register of Legal Entities - Register of legal entities persons;
- copies of documents on the applicant’s right to reproduce the film - with translation, if the documentation is in a foreign language;
- contract on the alienation of exclusive rights;
- license for showing and distribution of the film;
- musical information about the film;
- footage for film shot on film;
- assembly and dialog sheets;
- power of attorney of the applicant addressed to the representative;
- copy of the film.
If the application has been accepted, you will have to wait for the answer of the Ministry of Culture. The answer can be positive and negative. If the rental certificate for the film is still issued, you will have to prepare the following list of documents:
- copy of receipt of payment of state duty;
- acceptance certificate from the State Film Fund on the adoption of a copy;
- acceptance certificate from the Russian archive of film and photo documents.
The three documents presented above are submitted to the Ministry of Culture, after which a rental certificate for the film is issued.
National and foreign cinema
How long does the state issue a film rental certificate? The Ministry of Culture, as the main authority in the whole procedure, proceeds from the quality of the resulting product, its relevance and place of production. For example, ways to obtain a certificate for domestic and foreign films vary widely.
A national film is called a film product, the producer of which is a citizen of the Russian Federation and most of whose authors are Russians. The crew should include at least 30% of persons who do not have Russian citizenship. The film should be shot in Russian, and 50% of all work on the production of film products should be produced in the authors' homeland.It’s easy to guess that with foreign films everything is exactly the opposite.
Terms for obtaining a certificate
The Ministry of Culture has been considering the application for a rental right for a long time. However, a number of factors play an important role here: the credibility and recognition of the company producing the film, the budget and relevance of the product, the country of production, etc. It has long been known that the Ministry has been patronizing some films recently and carefully pushing others away. For example, the premiere of a major Western blockbuster can be moved to suit the fabric of domestic production.
The term of service for national films is 10 days. For foreign films, the period is the same, but the date of receipt of the certificate may be floating. Today, distributors cannot be guaranteed accuracy in the sale of their products. As already mentioned, the state promotes any domestic production, from which foreign cinema can suffer.
Refusal to issue a rental certificate
What is the Ministry of Culture guided by when issuing certificates? First, the film product should not contain extremist or terrorist materials. Inappropriate display of drug manufacture and pornography. It is forbidden to cultivate violence and methods of influencing the subconscious of people. Recently, filthy has been banned in the cinema, namely the four main words of the Russian mat. The same goes for “propaganda of homosexuality” - a rather streamlined concept.
In paragraph 18 of the "Rules of issuing a rental certificate" it is also reported that the Ministry of Culture refuses the applicant in the following cases:
- if the film for which the application is submitted already has a rental certificate;
- if the applicant has submitted an insufficient number of documents to the Ministry of Culture;
- if the applicant has not provided a copy of the film necessary for viewing and analysis by officials.
In cases where the shown and distributed copies of the film do not match, the Ministry of Culture withdraws the rental certificate.
Films that did not see the light
Above were identified the main criteria by which the Ministry of Culture does not allow a movie product to be shown.
As of 2018, four films have been refused a rolling certificate since the Law on Cinema Support was in existence.
In 2012, the Serbian picture "Clip" was not included in the register of rental certificates. Workers of the Ministry of Culture drew attention to the film. They decided that the movie contains scenes of drug use, foul language, as well as showing intercourse of minors. The clip was the first film officially banned by the Russian authorities. In society, this caused a great resonance.
With the picture "Number 44" of 2015, the situation was even more strange and confusing. The picture was not cruelty, obscene language, drugs and pornography. Deputies were outraged by the plot of the picture. As a result, the product did not receive the rental certificate number. It would seem that the law did not apply to the film. However, the government came up with an informal norm - "a distortion of historical facts." The same situation happened with the film "Death of Stalin" - the deputies and officials from the Ministry of Culture simply did not like the film, which is why it was banned.
The situation with Matilda
A big scandal broke out with the issuance of a rental certificate for the film "Matilda". The ban was initiated by Natalia Poklonskaya. State Duma deputy and responsible for controlling the income of members of the lower house of parliament, she launched an aggressive campaign against the film. When it became known that the Ministry of Culture issued a rental certificate for the film "Matilda", threats raged from the opponents of the scandalous picture.
Cinema gave rise to many scandals. The liberal part of society immediately spoke of censorship. It is probably not worth mentioning such a radical tool, but it would also be foolish to deny the fact of interference of the authorities in the cultural sphere of society.
Rental certificate registry
The state has created a special cinema register - a large database containing information about films that received rental certificates. The register allows you to find a movie according to various criteria, as well as find out the number of rental licenses.
The registry contains information on nine criteria:
- ID number - each film has its own identity (today it has reached nine-digit numbers);
- date of registration of the certificate;
- film product name;
- producer;
- production studio;
- category (film, video, television project);
- genre (fiction, documentary or popular science);
- film color (black and white or full color); age category (0, 6, 12, 16 and 18+);
- movie rental start date.
The registry is an open database. Any citizen can go to the website of the Ministry of Culture and see all the necessary information about a particular movie product.
Liability measures
The changes on July 1, 2014 entailed the development of new sanctions against filmmakers, which decided to violate the rules of the Ministry of Culture. For example, a fine of 50 to 100 thousand rubles is set for showing a film without a rental certificate, and up to 200 thousand rubles for repeated violation. The sanction, it should be noted, is very small. If the cinema decides to show a scandalous film, then the fine will pay off in a couple of sessions. A very good advertisement will be made to the institution itself. This happened with the Moscow cinema "Pioneer", which decided to broadcast "Death of Stalin."
Regional laws may tighten the screening of the film. However, it is forbidden to touch the federal norm, which establishes how to get a rental certificate for a film.
How and what to do
You can apply for a license from the Ministry of Culture in various ways. It will be possible to do this on the Internet - through the website of the State Service or on the portal of the Ministry itself. All electronic copies of the necessary documentation must be collected. There is a second option - submitting applications directly to the Ministry. In both cases, consideration of the application will occur the same amount of time - about 10 days.
There are several third-party companies willing to assist in working with the Ministry of Culture. Such organizations promise to quickly get a rental certificate for the film. For a certain amount of money, a private intermediary will independently collect the necessary package of documents and provide his escort to the Ministry of Culture.
It is worth considering that the intermediary is not responsible for the content of the product. If the state refuses to issue a license due to the immoral content of the film, the company will not be able to help. She only collects documents.
Getting a rental certificate in other countries
Who issues a film rental certificate in other states and is such a document issued in principle? As it turned out, the Russian Ministry of Culture is still very far from the European and even Asian level.
Domestic officials often refer to the French cinema support system. In the pre-war era, Hollywood tried to attack the European market, and only France withstood this onslaught. She introduced quotas for foreign cinema. In the 40s, quotas were canceled, and Hollywood began to work closely with Europe. The same situation was in South Korea, but quotas there were canceled only in the 90s.
What conclusion can be drawn here? Today's Russian authorities rely on the experience of France of the 30s. This is a very specific position, there is nothing to be proud of. Instead of introducing quotas, it is necessary to raise the quality of domestic goods, and not force them to look almost forcibly. Moreover, everything is not so smooth on the Russian market either: the situation with the rental certificate for the film Matilda demonstrated this.
Rental Cinema IDs
Is it necessary for network resources to obtain a license from the state to show a movie? Until recently, this question may have seemed ridiculous and absurd. After all, the Internet is a free space where any materials can be. However, the Russian authorities do not think so. At the end of 2016, the Ministry of Culture prepared the "Rules for the issuance and refusal to issue a rental certificate."
Under the new rules, licensed online cinemas can no longer show films for which the Ministry of Culture did not give an ID. Otherwise, they will face a fine of up to 100 thousand rubles.