Moscow - As Russia celebrates a century of filmmaking, its greatest directors and classics known by heart to all generations are unheard of in the West. But if Russian's film history was passed over, Western studios haven't failed to take note of the industry's post-Soviet resurgence that seems to promise endless profits.
The question is whether the revving domestic market has room or interest for inviting outsiders to co-produce.
Industry analysts shrugged off as no big deal the fact that there were no Russian contenders for the Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival this year, putting it down to a cyclic thing.
However, Russian director Diana Mkrtchyan's Gata was selected to be screened under the auspices of the Cinéfondation, which was created a decade ago to encourage a new generation of filmmakers.
Russia's oldest film industry support body, SovExportFilm founded in 1924, and its Guild of Producers have teamed with a new non- governmental organization.
"There are big opportunities here! The range of film locations, the beauty of the countryside ... we can help foreign producers with the logistics," said Anna Stoyalova, SovExportFilm head of international sales.
So the programme for the Russia's first-ever pavilion at the Cannes Film Festival - the first stop on a 15-nation promotion tour - belies more than efforts to screen the country's cultural treasures.
Alongside screenings of Mikhail Kalatozov's The Cranes Are Flying, winner of the Palm d'Or 50 years ago, and of Russia's earliest feature, Vladimir Romashkov's 1908 Stenka razin, organizers plan two roundtables baldly entitled: Russia as a place for foreign investment and Film production opportunities.
"We want to show how comfortable it is to shoot here. We want to show there are not only art films, but the commercial opportunities on the domestic market," said Dmitry Litvinov, head of the NGO Russian Film Network, founded last year for just this purpose.
And the market is not a hard sell. After a torrid slump following the Soviet collapse, the Russian movie industry is in a creative flux and seeing a box-office boom that is only set to grow with the economy.
This year, some 200 productions are planned for release and more are in the making. The country now hosts over 1,500 state-of-the-art cinemas where it had only one 10 years ago.
Litvinov boasts: "Warner Brother's is the only big US studio that has not opened offices here."
While the dollar is welcome in theaters and distribution, Russian Film Network's hopes to open eyes and establish the contacts necessary for the export of Russian films and co-productions, where post-Soviet neighbours like Ukraine are currently winning more investment.
"We can do co-production, we can do big historical films," Litvinov said.
The ideal model of this East meets West was this year's Academy nominee blockbuster Mongol by Sergei Bodrov, who will host a master class at the Cannes pavilion.
The 21.7-million-dollar movie mingled German, Russian, Kazkh and Canadian investors and was filmed in the three different countries.
Bodrov "is the exception rather than the rule," doubted Moscow-based film critic Tom Birchenough. "He has spent 12-15 years living in Hollywood ... I am not sure there are that many other directors capable of working on an international level or even want to."
All box-office breakers in Russia have been Russian since Night Watch became the country's highest-grossing film ever at 16.3 million dollars, edging out the Lord of the Rings sequel in 2004.
Using Hollywood's heavy promotion tactics to beat it at its own game, subsequent big-screen hits have featured popular Soviet remakes like The Turkish Gambit, and in January, Irony of Fate - Continuation, which took in a record-breaking 35.7 million dollars in the first two weeks.
The Russian film industry is "So hot. I'm not sure there is actually the space to bring people in," said Birchenough, who has tracked the Russian film industry since 1993.
"Today they are making enough on their own scripts," he said.
