The Ukrainian Film Academy has called on the international film community to boycott Russian cinema in a petition launched on Saturday (February 26).
Among the suggested measures are the exclusion of the Russian Federation from both the European Convention on Cinematographic Co-Production and the Council of Europe’s Eurimages fund as well as the termination of co-production agreements with Russia.
Russia has been a member state of the Strasbourg-based co-production fund since March 1, 2011.
Last year saw Eurimages production support go to two Russian majority co-productions; Forest Film’s production of Anna Kuznetsova’s Dandelion Nectar with Finland’s Aamu Film Company;wno and Aleksandra Likhachova’s Russian-Latvian Kretsel, a collaboration between Wish Media/Metrafims and UAB Artbox; and one minority participation by Viva Films in Georgian director Rusudan Glurjidze’s The Antique.
Further recent Russian films receiving backing from Eurimages include Ivan Tverdovsky’s The Conference, Viktor Kossakovsky’s Architecton, Mikhail Borodin’s Snow Is Falling, and Natalya Merkulova and Alexey Chupov’s co-directed Captain Volokongov Escaped.
In addition, the boycott appeal calls on international producers “to terminate any business with business entities of the Russian Federation and not to transfer intellectual property rights to any films to the territory of the Russian Federation“.
“We urge you to terminate all contracts with them,’” said the appeal on Change.org. “Remember that the business that will use your films pays taxes to the Russian budget which finances the army that violated the borders of an independent state, and buys missiles to bomb the civilian population of Europe.“
Moreover, members of the Brussels-based CEPI network of European producers and European Federation for Commercial Producers CFP – E are encouraged “to cease any cooperation with audiovisual producers who support aggression against Ukraine, in particular the distribution of audiovisual works in the member countries with the participation of actors and public figures supporting the Russian crime.“
Festival status
The Film Academy also suggests the Paris-based International Federation of Film Producers Associations (FIAPF) should consider taking away the ‘A’ category status of the Moscow International Film Festival which is due to hold its 44th edition in the Russian capital from April 21-28, 2022.
The appeal goes even further by encouraging film festivals to exclude any films produced by the Russian Federation or in co-production with it from being selected for festivals programmes.
And distributors are asked to pay attention to the fact that under the contracts they conclude on the territory of the Russian Federation, films are ”illegally distributed to the legal territory of Ukraine, namely: to the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea, so-called “DPR” and “LPR”. By issuing such licenses, they would in fact be violating Ukrainian sovereignty”.
The Ukrainian Film Academy was founded in 2017 as an initiative of the Odesa International Film Festival with the aim of raising the profile of Ukrainian films at hone and abroad. It also runs the Golden Dzyga national film awards.
Separately, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and Information Policy, with the support of leading Ukrainian media concerns 1 + 1 media, StarLightMedia, Media Group Ukraine and Inter Media Group, has today called on international television providers “to turn off all Russian news channels so that Russia’s outright propaganda does not go beyond Russia itself. In particular, we ask to block, turn off the broadcasting of these channels on European satellites”.
No comments yet