Russian directors talk about fleeing Putin’s war and Russia’s boycott of films

As the war in Ukraine approaches a grim three-month trajectory, and the Russian military continues its relentless onslaught, a harsh crackdown on domestic opposition by the Putin regime has left the beleaguered film industry contemplating its next steps. Many Russian filmmakers fear they will have no choice but to stick to the party line, or flee a country that is increasingly isolated from the international community.

Two-time Oscar nominee Alexander Rodniansky (“Leviathan”, “Loveless”), the Kyiv-born producer who has called Russia home for nearly three decades, left Moscow on March 1 after being told that his opposition to the war had pushed him into government goal. The producer says: “I have severed my business ties with Russia” diverse. “I left everything behind.”

While a complete exodus has yet to begin, many filmmakers are rethinking their future. “I can’t see how I can be a part of [Russian film] “I don’t want to be a taxpayer in this kind of Russia, because being part of the Russian economy today means feeding a war machine,” says one of the old producers, who ends all Moscow-based operations.

The growing presence of the Russian industry on the Croisette will be significantly diminished when the Cannes Film Festival kicks off this week, after organizers decided to prevent official delegations from attending this year’s event. Although the festival opened the door for individual filmmakers to attend this festival – with the participation of Kirill Serebnikov’s “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” at Cannes, many Russian filmmakers say they will be seated in this competition. “I feel uncomfortable going, under these circumstances,” one veteran producer admits.

It is a dramatic shift for an industry that before the invasion of Ukraine was on the rise. A combination of government support, private equity, and an arms race between local broadcasting platforms increased production; The international image of Russian cinema has never been higher. Veteran filmmakers like Serebrennikov and newcomers like Kira Kovalenko – who won the Un Certain Regard award in Cannes last year for her second film Unclenching the Fists – have become a fixture at Cannes, Venice and other A-list festivals.

However, the rapid and large-scale global response to the war immediately turned Putin’s Russia into a pariah state, politically and economically separated from the West. The film industry is reeling. The box office fell after Hollywood studios withdrew their Russian releases in the wake of the invasion. The model of financing and distribution based on international cooperation is suddenly in disarray. “It’s not going to go the way it was,” says one prominent director, who is exploring ways with his European partners to produce his films outside Russia. “You have to invent some new way of doing things.”

Amid global calls for a boycott of Russian cinema, however, the country’s filmmakers remain united, with Serebnikov drawing a distinction between “real Russian culture,” pro-Kremlin propaganda that supports war, and the “paranoid ideology” of the Putin regime. Russian culture is about the fragility of life. It’s about people who are being oppressed. who fight for truth or justice. This is real culture. It is not an ideological culture. Not advertising. I think it’s not a good idea to boycott this kind of culture.”

In an increasingly inward-looking Russia, the space for subversive cinema is fading away. However, many filmmakers expect production to continue apace, with the government stepping up investment in the industry as international opportunities dwindle. “Producers who are ready to produce what they are asked will have more opportunities than before,” says the producer, who is closing his offices in Moscow.

To understand what the future of Russian industry might look like, one might have to look into the past. “I think the industry will see a substantive return to Soviet-era filmmaking, with a heavy emphasis on comedy and motivational sports drama,” said producer Elia Stewart, in Cannes with “Tchaikovsky’s wife.” “It does not seem likely that there will be a demand for art that reflects reality…. [It will be] pure escape. For which there will also be a constant demand. The country has gone through this cycle before.”



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