“We will invite distinguished film directors, cinematographers, the best film crews,” Avdeyev said. He noted that a major goal of the initiative is to foster the creation of “film-reels that have a humanitarian, spiritual, [and] patriotic character.” “Starting in 2009, we will have state contracts with significant financing,” he went on to say.

The Minister’s statements come at a time when the government is taking a keener interest in Russia’s film industry. The State remains the country’s largest film producer, and widely subsidizes films by certain directors and on certain themes. Funding also comes indirectly, through Kremlin-affiliated businessmen and non-profits, such as the Fund to Support Patriotic Films, which is backed by the Federal Security Service (FSB).

Avdeyev noted that the share of Russian movies played in theaters was steadily rising, and was now close to 30%. As comparison, 95% of films shows in the US are home-grown, according to the Kommersant-Vlast magazine. French and Italian films, one the other hand, hold 36.5 and 31.7% share of their respective film markets.

“Nevertheless, 70 percent [of films shown in Russia] are the screening of low-grade American production,” Avdeyev said.

The Minister also announced that a new program meant to replace film-reel theaters with digital ones has already started this year.

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Read more about the Russian government’s growing role in the domestic film industry.

Militsiya officers, who did not have any formal authorization to confiscate the publication, told shop owners that the magazine contained unlawful obscene content.

Sellers of the magazine were also being called in for questioning, and were told they would have criminal responsibility if they continued carrying the publication.

It is worth noting that the Russian edition of Maxim was officially registered with the necessary federal agencies on February 18th 2002. Officials in Bashkortostan, however, said they were not subject to the Russian ministries. “We have a Bashkiria Ministry of Culture, which believes that this pornography cannot be sold everywhere,” one of the magazine’s sellers was reportedly told.

The currently active law “On Mass Media” forbids the production and trafficking of materials that promote pornography. However, the Ministry of Culture and Mass Communications recently prepared draft legislation that would allow the sale of erotic and pornographic products, excluding pornography that involves violence, minors, the deceased, symbols and architecture of the state, and animals.

Still, punishment for creating and selling pornography is mild, and sentences are light. Furthermore, the laws see little distinction between pornography involving children versus that involving adults, and this has led to an international reputation for Russia as a haven for child pornography.

Maxim, by some estimated that most popular men’s magazine in Russia, features images of scantily clad celebrities and models.  In the Russian edition, a very small portion of those photos portray nudity.

A subculture known for black fingernails, angled bangs and rock music, popular among some Russian teenagers, is under attack. On Monday, the Department of Education of the Nizhny-Novgorod oblast called for a campaign to combat a movement known as “emo”. The classification, which originated from an independent music movement in the United States, is short for “emotional,” and now relates as much to a fashion style as a genre of music.

The Department’s move comes after the local branch of the Federal Security Service Directorate (UFSB) brought forth a report describing repeated instances of “unconventional religious trends, and civic organizations disseminating ideas of a negative youth subculture.” The information first became public from a circular published by the Education Department.

The document, in part, reads: “According to information from the Nizhny-Novgorod oblast UFSB, the oblast is seeing the growth of ideas of the emo negative youth subculture, which are connected with suicidal tendencies of teenagers 12-16 years of age.”

The text then vividly describes the emo stereotype: clothing with pink and black colors and two-toned designs. Blue-black hair. Long bangs. Fingernails painted black. Piercings.

The FSB informed the educators that “the emo ideology negatively influences the unformed teenage psyche. According to the ideology, its members are immortal, and each one’s dream is to die of blood-loss in a warm bath, by cutting the veins on the wrist region. Many of the teenagers are depressed, withdrawn in their thoughts, and the girls are very inclined toward suicide on account of unrequited love. The young people drawn to the emo movement imagine that they have an ‘allergy to happiness.’”

Based on the information taken from the FSB, the department called on its teachers to maintain vigilance and to take measures directed “at explaining the negative consequences of entering into alternative civic organizations.”

Meanwhile, the emo subculture could not be reached for comment.