Russian film studios receive guidelines for portraying families according to ‘traditional values’ 

Russian film studios have been given a set of guidelines on how families should be portrayed onscreen, according to the state-affiliated business outlet RBC, which cited industry sources.

The document, reportedly more than 100 pages, calls for the family to be depicted as a “bastion of stability amid external turbulence” and cautions against excessive sentimentality or caricature. Storylines, the guidelines state, should not present crisis, infidelity, family breakdown, irresponsibility or estrangement from relatives as the most compelling part of a plot.

The document also instructs creators to convey that having a family and children is not “the end of freedom” but the beginning of a new stage of life, noting that early parenthood allows children to know their great-grandparents. It gives separate recommendations on how patriotism and love of one's home region should be portrayed, and includes sample film plots meant to illustrate the recommended approach.

According to RBC's sources, the guidelines were drafted by the State Duma's information policy committee. However, the committee's chairman, Sergey Boyarsky, disputed that account, describing the document instead as an industry-led effort at self-regulation. He said compliance was not mandatory.

Russian authorities have increasingly taken measures to promote so-called “traditional values” across public life in recent years. Last week, business daily Vedomosti reported that the Digital Development Ministry and the Federal Security Service (FSB) are developing a system to test Russian neural networks for compliance with “spiritual and moral values”, a requirement that would apply to major AI models seeking designation as “sovereign” or “national” systems.