Talent campuses do not only exist in Berlin or Sarajevo. The phenomenon is strong enough to inspire new projects, new platforms for future filmmakers and film lovers. The role these platforms can take is all the more important in places like Russia where expressing yourself in total independence and freedom may not be as easy as in the rest of Europe. This urge and this desire are beautifully expressed by Anna Gudkova, who is the program director of the Russian International education Program "Generation Campus".

What made you create the Russian talent Campus? Did you already have an experience of such platforms? After visiting (even not participating!) the Berlin Talent Campus I was so inspired and impressed that I decided to make the first Campus for young film professionals in my native country - Russia. Up to this date it was held twice already: first in the frame of IFF at Vladivostok ( during which Cinetrain was presented) and the second time in Moscow in the frame of IFF "Tomorrow". Well I think it’s the best evidence ever…

What do you see in the initiative of Talent Campuses? As for you, what is their point in today’s film industry? I suppose that all kinds of campuses can unite people from extremely different countries and ways of living. It can connect various kinds of realities and create a fresh, brand new one. I can’t imagine future film industry without such kinds of initiatives. And even more so - I don’t want to live my personal life without them.

What is your ambition regarding the Russian Talent Campus? How do you envision its future? My dream is to create a generation of filmmakers in Russia who will consider themselves as a part of the global cinema industry, free from any frontier whatsoever. They shouldn’t be imprisoned in the small, provincial life of modern Russian filmmaking whose future strongly depends from politicians and bureaucrats of all kinds. I want to help them in opening their horizons, in feeling free at anytime and anyplace - in their dreams, in their creations, in their films and lives. And I believe that this platform of international education programme where they can find friends and partners, financiers or even film lovers from all over the world is the best place to be in their youths. It’s full of ideas and strong enough to turn the planet in any direction that they want.

by Adrien Lenoir