The repercussions of Russian invasion of Ukraine they are not foreign, of course, to the cinematographic medium. And not only for news like that of the American director and actor Sean Penn shooting a documentary about the conflict and escaping a few days later to the Polish border, or death during a bombing of a town near Kiev from Ukrainian actor Pasha Lee, who had enlisted in the Army of his country. The theme goes further, in the same way that it also affects sports or classical music, establishing a new cancellation culture.
From the production centers of Ukrainian cinema, and in other European spheres, a full-fledged boycott of any Russian film. That is to say, that no film of this cinematography is exhibited in commercial theaters, film libraries, televisions and contests. Russian directors have even been required to refuse to go to festivals if they are selected. The situation is disconcerting, since it concerns all Russian production, both government-financed and more independent and even dissident.
Applying that could be a mistake. Or perhaps the Cannes festival shouldn’t have selected Juan Antonio Bardem’s ‘Comics’ in its 1954 edition, Carlos Saura’s ‘Los golfos’ in 1960 and Luis García Berlanga’s ‘Plácido’ in 1962 because they were films made in a dictatorship? Those responsible for the French event understood that in every country under a repressive system there are voices that cry out against that repression.
So not all Russian cinema should be measured according to the standard of absolute condemnation, especially considering that, for example, Kirill Serebrennikov (‘Leto’) He has been under house arrest for several years, and then on probation, on charges related to embezzlement, although it is known that he is persona non grata for the Putin’s government due to his constant criticism of the Orthodox Church.
against aggression
We have talked about cannes festival. As the most important event in the world, and which in recent years has successfully programmed films by Russian authors such as Serebrennikov, Andrey Zvyagintsev (‘No Love’) or Aleksandr Sokurov (‘The Russian Ark’), everyone was waiting for his position on the matter. Contrary to the Ukrainian Film Academy and the European Film Academy (EFA)the French festival has decided not to boycott Russian films, although in its next edition – from May 17 to 28 – it will not accept the presence of its official delegations. In their statement of March 1, those responsible for Cannes argue that “unless the war of aggression is brought to an end under conditions that satisfy the Ukrainian people, no official delegations from Russia will be received, nor will the presence of any body linked to the Russian government be accepted.”
In another paragraph of the statement, it is said that the festival wants to highlight “the courage of all those in Russia who have taken the risk of demonstrating against the aggression and invasion of Ukraine. Among them, artists and film professionals who have never left to fight against the current regime and that cannot be associated with these intolerable acts with which they are bombing Ukraine”. Is an unambiguous way of separating pro-Putin and non-pro-Putin filmmakers. Would it be lawful to ban the latter when their films stand out from current Russian politics?
Cancellation of ‘Solaris’
On the same March 1, the European Film Academy published a statement on its website declaring itself in agreement with the global sanctions against Russia and allying itself with the Ukrainian film academy in its boycott all russian cinema. In one of the paragraphs you can read the recognition of the brave Russian filmmakers who oppose the war, “but in view of a brutal and unjustified attack we have to support our Ukrainian brothers”, announcing that no Russian film will compete this year for the European Film Awards. To this communication, and to “the delicate world situation”, the Film Library of Andalusia when last March 4 he canceled the screening of ‘Solaris’, film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky in 1972, and replaced it with Stanislaw Lem’s version of the same novel directed by Steven Soderbergh in 2002.
Situations of this type are, to say the least, surprising. Tarkovsky, who died in 1986, was never a filmmaker well regarded by the Russian Government, and some of his films had problems with censorship. As much as the Andalusian Film Library later announced that Tarkovsky’s film had been canceled to prevent the Putin government from receiving any kind of financial collection for said screening, the damage, in a way, was done.
The Venice Film Festival and the Locarno festival have taken a position similar to that of Cannes. AND San Sebastian has also spoken: “The San Sebastian Festival expresses its resounding condemnation of Russia’s intolerable aggression against Ukraine, in what constitutes a flagrant violation of international legality. Our selection processes evaluate the cinematographic works individually, never based on the nationality to which they belong, even when they come from countries with governments that violate fundamental rights and we will continue to do so in these troubled times. We cannot hold the citizens of a country responsible for the decisions of their governments. Those Russian voices that oppose the aggression committed by their country will always have a place at the San Sebastian Festival”.
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The recent statement from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports urging the suspension of all projects and initiatives underway with the Russian Federation may condition these decisions.
In the meantime, Netflix has suspended its service in Russia; the ukrainian producer Igor Savychenko has published a letter saying that there are no good Russians, but that they are all murderers; american director Oliver Stone He has written on his Instagram account that some media omit the main facts of the conflict when it is not convenient, and Sergei Loznitsathe most important director of Ukrainian cinema, author of the film ‘Dombass’ (2018), has left the European Film Academy on the grounds that his position has been too lukewarm, but at the same time he defends Russian filmmakers who do not agree with Putin and criticizes the boycott.