Ukrainian Film Academy calls for boycott of Russian cinema
The Ukrainian film body has called on distributors and producers to end deals with Russian productions in the wake of the ongoing invasion
Several Ukrainian film and television groups have issued statements to the press today, calling on culture groups across the planet to block Russian news sources and distance themselves from Russian television and film.
Per The Hollywood Reporter, one such call was issued this weekend by the Ukrainian Film Academy, which has, among other things, requested that the Moscow International Film Festival lose its accreditation, while also calling for a wider boycott of Russian film from the international community. All of these requests have been laid out in a Change.org petition apparently posted online by the group; other requests include a call for producers and distributors to extricate themselves wherever possible from deals with Russian film entities, and for the Council Of Europe to block Russian filmmakers from the Eurimages fund designed to support and promote the European film industry.
Here’s an excerpt from the petition, laying out the Academy’s demands for the various bans:
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 result of this activity is not only the spread of propaganda messages and distorted facts. It also boosts the loyalty of Russian culture — the culture of the aggressor state, which unleashed unjustified and unprovoked war in central Europe.
The Academy petition comes as groups around the globe continue to exert social and cultural pressures against Vladimir Putin’s administration and the invasion of Ukraine. Earlier this week, the Eurovision Song Contest announced that it was banning Russia from participating in this year’s event, while several international sports agencies have moved to transfer planned matches and tournaments off of Russian soil. That’s in addition to more formal sanctions that have been issued by actual governments, in addition to the actions taken by culture groups.