"City of Stories" project receives honourable mention in international travel-film competition

The Jury of the XIII International Film Festival "Rendezvous with Russia" Tourism Film Competition singled out the TV BRICS series about small Russian towns - the project was awarded an honorary diploma.

"It is the small towns that are the backbone of any country. Sustainable, modern, safe, open cities is one of the UN's sustainable development goals, which is being focused on not only in Russia, but in other BRICS countries," said Olga Bubnova, author and presenter of the project.

She also noted that today the BRICS countries are striving for inter-regional cooperation, and this is a very important trend that brings the cities of the alliance, and therefore the countries, closer together.

"The main thing about TV BRICS' City of Stories project is not the ancient crafts, local cuisine, vast Russian expanses or ancient architecture. The main ones here are the locals, who are in love with their small homeland and cherish its cultural heritage. Our project helps to discover Russian smaller cities from a new perspective, to introduce Russian cities to audiences in Brazil, India, China and South Africa," added the presenter.

Maria Kamsechko, tourism and hospitality industry expert and chair of the jury of the "Rendezvous with Russia" International Tourism Film and TV Festival, gave TV BRICS an exclusive commentary. She noted that the jury felt that the project could be useful for Russians and foreigners alike.

 "We have some cities that are like brands, and there are cities that no one knows about, but at the same time they are not inferior absolutely in their significance, in their history to such brands as the Golden Ring of Russia. It is very good that Kolomna also sounded like a brand in this situation, just not in terms of PR, but a brand in terms of understanding how important it is to show the lives of people in small towns. I wish the project success, prosperity, shoot more, show more. And let the countries where TV BRICS is broadcast also see in different languages what great cities we have," said Maria Kamsechko.

To recap, this year TV BRICS launched a series of programmes about Russia's small towns called City of Stories. The aims of the project are to acquaint international viewers with the original culture of the Russian countryside, to show stories that will resonate with everyone, regardless of nationality, and to form a positive image of the provincial "Russian" city.

The "City of Stories" has 13 episodes, each lasting about 25 minutes.

The project is now being prepared for broadcasting in China, with episodes to be translated into the languages of the P5 countries.

The series was previously presented as part of special screenings at the 'Territory of People's Unity' festival of the "Rendezvous with Russia" international project in Arkhangelsk.