Zurich Film Festival officially cancels screening of propaganda film Russians at War
The Zurich International Film Festival has cancelled all screenings of the film Russians at War. Viewers have begun to receive letters announcing ticket cancellations, and the festival's website has cancelled all screenings.
Source: Zurich Film Festival website
Details: In letters to festival visitors, the organisers stated that public screenings would not be held "for security reasons". However, the film remains in the documentary competition programme, so it is still eligible for awards.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has already responded to the cancellation. After international festivals began announcing screenings of the Russian propaganda film, the press service launched a hashtag, #NoStageForRussia.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is grateful for the decision of the Zurich Film Festival to cancel public screenings of the film Russians at War. Russia should not be present in the international cultural scene. There should also be no chance for its voices to whitewash war criminals in front of the public," the ministry said.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also called on the festival organisers to remove the film from the competition entirely.
"The only threat to the ‘safety of its viewers, guests, partners and staff’ is the influence of Russian propaganda that justifies aggression and atrocities," the Foreign Ministry concluded.
About the film Russians at War
Russians at War is a documentary by Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova.
Trofimova was born in Moscow. For over 10 years, she has worked in the media and participated in various documentary projects in Canada, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Russia. She has created several documentaries for Russia Today, a Kremlin-aligned Russian news outlet that was recently banned by the US.
The film Russians at War tells the story of Trofimova spending seven months with the Russian military in the occupied part of Ukraine. The film does not show the destruction and deaths inflicted by the Russians on Ukrainians but portrays the Russian soldiers as ordinary people.
One of the soldiers in the film denies the accusations that Russians are committing war crimes in Ukraine. Trofimova herself says that while she was making the film, she had not seen any such crimes.
Background:
- Trofimova's film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
- Before the film's screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the Ukrainian community in Canada organised a series of protests. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleh Nikolenko, Consul General of Ukraine in Canada, and others joined the calls not to screen Russians at War.
- In the end, TIFF’s organisers said they would not screen Trofimova's film, supposedly for security reasons. However, after the film festival officially closed, they announced two separate screenings of the film on Tuesday, 17 September.
- Recently, director Anastasia Trofimova was added to the list of persons who threaten the national security of Ukraine.
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