Ukrainian Film Academy Calls for International Boycott of Russian Cinema

thewrap.com:

Change.org petition created Friday, the Academy asked several European and international filmmaking institutions, producers and distributors to terminate business dealings with the Russian Federation. “The outbreak of war in Ukraine is an attack on a civilized world with a democratic system, a crime committed in the heart of Europe,” reads the statement. “But at a time when world powers are imposing economic and political sanctions on the Russian Federation, the country continues to be active in the cultural field.

In particular, several films made by Russia are regularly admitted to the programs of most world film festivals, and significant resources are spent on their promotion.”The petition claims that this activity not only leads to “the spread of propaganda messages and distorted facts,” but also “boosts the loyalty of Russian culture – the culture of the aggressor state, which unleashed unjustified and unprovoked war in central Europe,” it continues. “Even the very presence of Russian films in the program of world film festivals creates the illusion of Russia’s involvement in the values of the civilized world.”Following this introduction, the letter encourages the EU-wide Council of Europe to “exclude Russia from the Eurimages,” the European Cinema Support Fund that funds the production and exhbition of independent films.

In addition, it asks the Council to end any co-production agreements with Russia and to bar it from participation in the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production.The petition goes on to ask international festivals to ban Russian films from entry and for producers and distributors to withdraw any production activity from Russian soil.Specifically, it instructs producers to stop.