Russia to boycott 2023 Oscars amid Ukraine war
Oscars.The Russian film academy announced the decision on Monday (September 26) in a statement (via the Guardian), which reads: “The presidium of the Film Academy of Russia has decided not to nominate a national film for the Oscars award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2022.”According to Variety, several members of Russia’s Oscar nomination committee, including chairman Pavel Tchoukhrai, have resigned following the decision.In a letter published by state news agency Tass, the chairman blamed the Russian film academy for taking an “unilateral decision over the head of the committee” and described it as “unfair and illegal”.This is the first time the country has boycotted the Oscars since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. It comes as tensions between Russia and the US rise over the country’s war on Ukraine, which started in February this year.As noted by Variety, some members of Russia’s Oscar committee resigned when the war started earlier this year.