Director Serhiy Loznytsia was expelled from the Ukrainian Film Academy for participating in a Russian film festival.
This was reported by the organization's press service with reference to the decision of the Council and the Supervisory Board of the Film Academy.
"On 24 February 2022, Russia started a full-scale war against Ukraine. Ukraine is defending itself on all fronts, including a cultural one. European countries and the world must have a complete and unambiguous picture of what the country-aggressor is doing in Ukraine. So every Ukrainian is now his country's ambassador", - says the message.
The Film Academy emphasized that now special responsibility lies with professionals from the creative areas, who are well known abroad, and their position should be unambiguous.
"Director Loznytsia has repeatedly emphasized that he considers himself a cosmopolitan, a "man of the world." However, now that Ukraine is struggling to defend its independence, the primary concept in the rhetoric of every Ukrainian should be his or her national identity. And there can be no compromises.
In addition, Loznytsa's films were recently included in the program of the Russian Film Festival in Nantes, France, entitled "From Lviv to the Urals."
In the time of bloody full-scaled war, it is unacceptable.
The Ukrainian Film Academy has already addressed the world film community to boycott Russian cinema.
"We constantly address the whole world to draw a line between Ukrainian and Russian cultures and not equate them. All members of the Ukrainian Film Academy must share this position and call things by their names, be firm and clear in their beliefs. We ask the world community not to define Serhiy Loznytsia as a representative of the Ukrainian culture," - the statement reads.
According to The Guardian, Serhiy Loznytsia's film about Stalin's funeral was included in the list of the best films of the year. However, in Russia, in 2020, all pre-premiere screenings of "Farewell to Stalin" were canceled.