Published on: 2026-09-26
Source: Moscow Government – Правительства Москвы –
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
More than a thousand years of Russian history, European cities, the Wild West, the Middle East, another planet, and outer space — all this can be filmed right in the capital without organizing location shoots. In Moscow film cluster, subordinate to the capital Department of Culture, the on-location sets of the MosKino film studio coexist alongside virtual production pavilions and technologies.
Imagine: the filming shift begins among wooden huts of Ancient Rus, a few hours later the crew is already working in a cozy square of an Italian town, and by evening the characters find themselves aboard a spaceship. And this is not magic, but two types of cinematic spaces: some are real — with streets, squares, and full-scale interiors, others are born right before the actors’ eyes on LED screens and can literally change during the scene.
A thousand years in one shift: from Ancient Rus to the present day
The longest line in the film park is Russian, and it can be started in the 9th-12th centuries. The “Ancient Rus” set recreates early medieval settlements: wooden huts, dugouts, ancient Kiev and Iskorosten, Princess Olga’s homestead. Further on is the white-stone Rus and old Moscow: the “Cathedral Square” and “Princely Chambers” locations — spaces where you can work with the pre-Peter the Great era.
An interesting feature of the film studio park is that the sets are not tied to a single storyline. The “Port City” set, originally created as Vladivostok at the beginning of the 20th century, was transformed into 18th-century shipyards for “Kholop-3.” The film’s producer, Vazgen Khachatryan, said that the team searched extensively across the country for a suitable location, but immediately saw potential in the studio park: the site proved convenient and cinematic, and the artists were able to complete the necessary world.
For the historical saga “Master of Moscow,” the sets “Cathedral Square,” “Port City,” and “Gonzaga Theater” were used — the team had the opportunity to assemble a large city within a single production environment, without traveling to disparate real locations. Sergey Shakurov noted that the spaciousness of the film park gives artists the freedom to create complex sets, and added: “Here you can recreate any reality.” For historical films, this is crucial: the actor works within a space that helps to believe in the era, rather than in front of a mere fragment of a wall.
From 19th-century Moscow, the route heads east: for the series “Arsenyev,” Vladivostok of the early 20th century was filmed in the set “Port City,” and for “Zheltuga,” the Amur region at the end of the 19th century. Returning to the capital — to the 1920s–1930s: the “Constructivist Moscow” site covers more than 18,000 square meters and includes over 40 objects — from buildings in the style of Mosselprom and Izvestia to a tram depot and towers.
Then — the capital during the Great Patriotic War. The “Moscow 1940s” site (about 65 thousand square meters) allows for the reconstruction of the wartime urban environment — with facades, transport, street lamps, and street graphics. And further on — our days: the “Modern Moscow” site includes a hospital, police station, school, kindergarten, pedestrian underpass, and streets. In total — eight major historical periods.
From Berlin to the Wild West
A few minutes around the film park — and the architectural language changes. Complexes of European cities allow for working with different countries and eras.
For the film “Burattino,” an Italian town from the 19th century was built — featuring Papa Carlo’s house, a school, a theater, shops, a bakery, and squares. Producer Mikhail Vrubel emphasized that everything was built to real scale. According to him, an entire town of this size and quality became an exceptional project even by global standards. The film crew could freely move the camera and actors without breaking the space into studio fragments.
The “Reichstag” site transports you to Berlin in 1945, while neighboring areas depict Poland and military Europe. The “Cowboy Town” gathers a recognizable world of the Western genre. There is a saloon, bank, hotel, and sheriff’s office. And the set design of the “City of the Middle East and Central Asia” is not a replica of a single city, but an architectural constructor that can be read as the Middle East, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and North Africa. The artist receives not a finished address, but a foundation for a new world. In total, the foreign map provides no fewer than six directions.
Beyond the Map: Where Geography Ends
The most interesting things begin where a regular map stops working. In the movie park, you can build not only the past or another country, but also a place that never existed. For example, the set “Fairy Tale City” with its towers, spires, and carvings is created for epics, fairy tales, and fictional universes.
For the series “Hard to Be a God,” something was built on the park’s territory Arkanar — a medieval city on another planet. It features palaces, squares, an aqueduct, water areas, secret passages, and a huge sculpture. Producer Fedor Bondarchuk described the scale of the task as almost impossible: filming took place in Iran and Moscow, and at “Moskino” the team, according to him, created a true cosmos. Actor Sergey Bezrukov noted that Arkanar was built physically, not just given to chroma key, allowing one to live in the space. And Aleksandar Radoyichich recalled that touring the set took about an hour, and inside the medieval city a space station was also hidden. The immersion was so intense that the actor began perceiving Arkanar as the only existing reality.
Reality plus digital: virtual production
The MosKino film studio is taking the next step — a physical set can be extended with a digital world. In the virtual production studio, LED screens, camera tracking, and graphics combine right during filming. Outside the window of the real interior, another planet appears, and the pavilion transforms into a completely new environment with a few rearrangements.
For the series “Noon,” the post-apocalyptic planet Nadezhda was created here: a black desert, stone structures, a pyramid, and a citadel. Some of the objects existed physically, while the rest were created on the screens. Cinematographer Heinrich Meder called the set multifunctional, allowing for the convenient organization of technically complex filming.
In “The Planeteers,” the heroes found themselves inside a flying saucer with bionic architecture, and outside the portholes—Earth from above. In “Alice in Wonderland,” the real part of the “Infinite Table” transitioned into digital space. In the second season of “Landyshi,” the actors danced against a backdrop of a meteor shower, combined with live light and smoke.
Also, the virtual platform allows you not to be tied to a single world at all. For the presentation project in one pavilion, mountains, a field, columns, a tunnel, and space were successively created, clouds moved, birds flew, and the Earth rotated. In classical production, this would have required several expeditions or large amounts of post-production; here, everything became part of one filming process.
From Moscow to Mars in one day — not an advertising hyperbole, but a production principle. Kinopark provides a physical world: streets, buildings, texture, scale, the opportunity for an actor to exist inside the set. It houses eight shooting pavilions and 74 natural and interior sets in total. Kinozavod removes the last limitation — the geographical one.
Moscow Film Cluster — these are infrastructure objects, services, and facilities for filmmakers that Government of Moscow develops as part of the “Moscow — City of Cinema” project. Its structure includes cinema park “Moskino”, Gorky Film Studio, Moskino Film Factory, Moskino Cinema Network, Moscow Film Commission, and Moscow Film Platform.
Quickly get the main news on the official channels of the city of Moscow in messengers “Max” and “Telegram”.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the information source. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.