Mosfilm Company

There's no razzmatazz here: "Russia's Hollywood" looks as if a storm had hit it. A damp set sags forlornly on an abandoned open-air lot. Mysterious heaps of rotting wood have gathered behind crumbling buildings. Weeds cling to mangled cars in the alleys. But there's an unfamiliar whiff of optimism in the air at Mosfilm, the damaged 15-acre studio complex that was once the huge Soviet movie industry's showcase.

There's no razzmatazz here: "Russia's Hollywood" looks as if a storm had hit it. A damp set sags forlornly on an abandoned open-air lot. Mysterious heaps of rotting wood have gathered behind crumbling buildings. Weeds cling to mangled cars in the alleys. But there's an unfamiliar whiff of optimism in the air at Mosfilm, the damaged 15-acre studio complex that was once the huge Soviet movie industry's showcase.

In the big, long, gloomy boardroom lined by dark heavy wood, the two Oscars in a glass cabinet catch the eye. They are meant to. Here at Mosfilm, the world's largest movie studio, these Oscars have assumed a special significance in the last 18 months. They represent everything Mosfilm is now working toward--international recognition, worldwide audiences and, above all, money from wherever the studio can find it.

In the big, long, gloomy boardroom lined by dark heavy wood, the two Oscars in a glass cabinet catch the eye. They are meant to. Here at Mosfilm, the world's largest movie studio, these Oscars have assumed a special significance in the last 18 months. They represent everything Mosfilm is now working toward--international recognition, worldwide audiences and, above all, money from wherever the studio can find it.

Hollywood has long issued warnings--silly as well as serious--that the Russians were coming. Well, the Russians are here. And they're targeting Hollywood. Their purpose: cinematic glasnost --not to mention commercial gain. The battlefield: the American Film Market, the world's largest motion-picture trade event that opened Thursday and continues through Friday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (The market is not open to the public.) Representatives of more than 115 U.S.

Hollywood has long issued warnings--silly as well as serious--that the Russians were coming. Well, the Russians are here. And they're targeting Hollywood. Their purpose: cinematic glasnost --not to mention commercial gain. The battlefield: the American Film Market, the world's largest motion-picture trade event that opened Thursday and continues through Friday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. (The market is not open to the public.) Representatives of more than 115 U.S.