Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
In 2025, the Moscow Film Commission received over 3,800 applications for filming in the city. Among the completed projects were over 20 films exploring themes of historical memory, military duty, and national identity. These figures reflect a comprehensive support system and the dedicated work of a large team. "Moscow Culture" explores the work of the Moscow Film Commission through five outstanding projects from recent years.
Cinema as urban infrastructure
The Moscow Film Commission, which was established in 2018 by order of the Mayor of Moscow, is now part of a full-fledged cluster that includes a film park Moschino, a film production facility, and a digital platform for accepting applications. The system functions as a single entity: producers submit applications online, the film commission handles approvals with city authorities, and the filming process unfolds without conflicting with the pace of the city.
Over the past seven years, the Moscow Film Commission "Moskino" has helped organize approximately 10,000 filming sessions at city locations. Thanks to it, more than 2,600 projects of various sizes have been created. Since September 2023, the application process has been fully transferred to the Moskino film platform. This means that the director of a student short film and the producer of a blockbuster series have the same access, with identical approval procedures.
But the Moskino digital platform has gone beyond simply accepting requests. Today, it combines the selection and booking of nearly 700 venues—from film studio soundstages to historical sites and city parks—in a single window, and also provides access to a 60,000-item prop database.
In addition to organizational support, the city has also built financial support. Since 2020, the Moscow government has been awarding grants to filmmakers whose films create a recognizable image of the city. All this makes Moscow a true cinematic capital—the inspiration, creator, and, de facto, star of these projects all at once.
"The Moscow Film Cluster creates all the necessary opportunities for the implementation of film projects. This includes the creation of filming infrastructure at the Moskino Cinema Park and the film factory, as well as the development of specialized services, such as coordinating and organizing filming on the street and road network. Furthermore, the Moscow Government supports filmmakers with grants. Specifically, last year, support measures became available for creators of children's content and projects promoting the country's traditional spiritual and moral values," notes Georgy Prokopov, General Director of ANO Moskino.
Along with organizational support, the film commission provides scouting and location selection, handles street and road filming, facilitates access to infrastructure, and oversees both static and dynamic scenes, including stunts, transportation, and extras. All this is accomplished without disrupting the city's flow, and with maximum coordination with all Moscow services to ensure the filming experience is comfortable not only for the creators but also for Moscow residents.
"Empire" in the park's scenery
The flagship historical series of 2025 was "Empire," a multi-part epic commissioned by Channel One. It presents a sweeping portrait of the country's historical development, illustrating the politics, everyday life, economics, transportation features, and culture of the Russian Empire. The ninth and tenth installments—"Empire: Alexander III" and "Empire: Nicholas II"—were filmed at the Moskino Cinema Park.
Three locations were used for filming: "Center of Moscow," "Vitebsk Station," and "Far Eastern City." The dark brickwork of the railway station's lobby was relocated to Saratov, where, according to the plot, Pyotr Stolypin delivers a speech warning the public against riots. The ticket office hall was transformed into a courthouse. The "Far Eastern City" became a frieze scene: a fair with folk festivals from the time of Alexander III.
But the most difficult scenes turned out to be the final scenes of the series – the finale, filmed on the set of "Far Eastern City": Nicholas II's office in the governor's house in Mogilev, the Romanovs' tea party in Tobolsk, where the tsar photographs his family for the last time, and the exit to the firing squad.
This filming was the highlight of the filming at the cinema park, according to the press service of the production company behind the series. The scenes were complex both emotionally and from a filmmaking perspective. The entire crew had to experience them. The visual design of the scene leading out to the firing squad was challenging, so many takes were done. It would have been impossible to finish the episode in editing—it had to be filmed in one take.
Thanks to the work of the Moscow Film Commission, all of the team's ambitious ideas were brought to life, allowing the creators to focus on the creative side of the project and present viewers with a vibrant documentary.
"Not on the list": 150 tons of bricks for the Brest Fortress
One of the most resonant projects of 2025 was the film "Not on the Lists," an adaptation of Boris Vasilyev's novella about Lieutenant Nikolai Pluzhnikov, who found himself in the Brest Fortress during the first hours of the war. The premiere, timed to coincide with the 80th anniversary of Victory Day, took place on May 1, 2025. The leading roles were played by Vladimir Mashkov, who also served as the film's producer, Vladislav Miller, Alena Morilova, Pavel Chernyshev, Yana Sekste, and young actors. Oleg Tabakov's Moscow Theatre.
The central production decision was the construction of a 42,000-square-meter outdoor set at the Moskino Cinema Park—an exact replica of the key triangle of the Brest Fortress (the Church of St. Casimir, the barracks of the 333rd Rifle Regiment, and the Terespol Gate). The set was erected in just two months on a sturdy metal frame with reinforced walls and ceilings. 150 tons of bricks were brought in for filming.
"When we were discussing where to film the movie, we considered many options, but we realized we needed to build a unique set that would meticulously replicate the Brest Fortress citadel. We, of course, filmed at historical sites, but that's a museum, so we couldn't film the way we did at the Moskino Cinema Park. Much of what we did in this project involved real explosions and real destruction," noted director Sergei Korotayev.
The production designers recreated the interior of St. Casimir's Cathedral, which served as an army club before the war, based on rare 1941 photographs taken by German soldiers. The film crew also worked in the Moscow region and Belarus. "The Moskino Cinema Park takes a thorough approach to building outdoor sets—previously, sets were constructed entirely differently. I love that viewers of future films can come to the cinema park and see the inside story of cinema. This increases interest in our work, because the viewer, by taking a closer look at the production process, learns and discovers something," added production designer Eduard Galkin.
"Baltic Sea": War and Espionage in a Historical Location
The film "Baltic Sea," produced for the Rossiya TV channel, is set in 1944. In the Baltic Sea, a Soviet submarine hunter sank the German submarine U-250. On board were three state-of-the-art T-5 (Zaunkönig) acoustic torpedoes, capable of changing the balance of power in the Atlantic. A group of German saboteurs begins a covert operation in Leningrad and Kronstadt to destroy the captured weapons. Soviet intelligence officers must not only neutralize the enemy but also identify a traitor within their own ranks.
Filming began in the city—an old mansion on Pokrovsky Boulevard, the Teleshov House, which is over 200 years old. Several scenes were shot on the sets of the "Moscow of the 1940s," "Center of Moscow," and "Shakhty" cinema parks.
"Breed": 32 Donetsk buildings from the last century
The historical series "Poroda," produced by Sergey Zhigunov, required the creation of one of the largest sets in the history of the film park. The "Yuzovka" set, covering approximately 20,000 square meters, recreates 32 Donetsk buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries: streets with wooden houses, wells, pre-revolutionary buildings, a library, a hospital, a tavern, and shops.
The buildings bear distinctive signs, carts and shops stand outside the houses, and the roads are illuminated by lanterns from the era. Nearby, on the "Mine" site, elevator shafts, stables, and workers' locker rooms were erected.
"We were able to find 1950s mines in Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, where we also filmed, but we had to build pre-revolutionary mines. They also helped us film scenes with cave-ins and collapses. In Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, no one would have dared to lower an actor 900 meters down in an elevator to bury him in coal. But here, we did a fantastic job. We have high-tech hatches, we brought anthracite into our mines, black foam falls on the actors, dust rises—everything looks very natural," said Sergei Zhigunov.
"1812. The Hunt for the Emperor": Saving the Kremlin
Other patriotic projects supported by the Moscow Film Commission include "1812. The Hunt for the Emperor," about the rescue of the Kremlin during the war with Napoleon. A specially constructed set, "Cathedral Square," was built at the film park for the project, replicating the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin. It was here that several climactic scenes were filmed: how the French, on Napoleon's orders, mined the Kremlin during their retreat in 1812 and how it was subsequently saved from destruction.
"The filming at the cinema park was memorable for the sheer number of stunts, including a lot of work with stuntmen, pyrotechnicians, and crowd actors. One scene involved 300 extras: they all had to be dressed, styled, and explained what to do, but we managed," shared director Alexey Pimanov.
More than 20 patriotic projects filmed in 2025 span different eras, different studios, and different stories. The Romanovs and the Brest Fortress, besieged Leningrad and pre-revolutionary Donetsk, the Patriotic War of 1812 and the events of the last decade. All of this became possible not only because the directors had something interesting to say, but also because the city created an environment conducive to that. Venues, infrastructure, approvals, and grants will allow audiences to see stories on screen that would otherwise be impossible to film.
You can get an inside look at the filming process at the Moskino Cinema Park. A special program is held there on Saturdays and Sundays. Movie Weekends, which will be interesting for the whole family.
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