Director of Georgian Film ‘The Antique’ Blames Russia for Blocked Screenings at Venice Film Festival
variety.comNick Vivarelli International Correspondent Georgian director Rusudan Glurjidze, whose drama “The Antique” depicts the mass deportation of Georgians from the country by Russian authorities, on Friday asserted that she is being censored by an ongoing Russian campaign against the movie and pleaded for support after the film was prevented from screening at the Venice Film Festival.
Set in 2006 in Russia, “The Antique” touches on the deportation of thousands of Georgians from the country at the time. It was selected by the Venice Days section, a body that is run independently from the Venice Biennale.
As previously reported, the sidebar’s organizers and the fest’s parent org, the Venice Biennale, canceled the press and industry screening of “The Antique” scheduled for Wednesday after prominent Italian media lawyer Bruno Della Ragione, who was hired by three production companies — Viva Film in Russia, Avantura Film in Croatia and Pygmalion in Cyprus — obtained an emergency injunction from the Court of Venice over an alleged copyright dispute regarding the film’s script, according to a statement issued by Venice Days.
Asked about details of this legal dispute, Glurjidze said: “I am a filmmaker, not a lawyer. But I can tell you that I am in the middle of Europe and I am being censored.
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