Mikhail Shvydkoy: We are not heirs of “Tolstoyevsky”

... present-day situation? The question you are asking has been tormenting me for the past 30 years, ever since I began promoting Russian culture abroad and vice versa. On the one hand what the Western public today wants is obviously performing arts, especially music. Although we have been losing some competitions Russia has a formidable artistic and musical school which ... ... then Gogol. Our past is wonderful, but for me the key problem has always been to generate demand for our modern art and modern literature. Speaking about cinema, I hold the view that Russian cinema is interesting not because it is like Hollywood but because ...