European Film Academy President criticises Cannes 2022 for welcoming Russian film amid war

The prestigious Cannes Film Festival 2022 kick-started on May 17 and welcomed several actors, who attended the international premieres of their films. One of the films welcomed by the festival included Tchaikovsky’s Wife, which has been directed by a Russian named Kirill Serebrennikov.

The European Film Academy President, Agnieszka Holland, has now criticized the Cannes Film Festival's move to welcome the director and his film amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine.

European Film Academy President criticizes Cannes 2022 over Russian film

As per a recent report by Variety, the European Film Academy President, Agnieszka Holland, slammed Cannes' decision to welcome the film Tchaikovsky’s Wife to the main competition. She mentioned that although director Kirill Serebrennikov is a 'talented artist' if it were up to her, she would not include his film in Cannes 2022. She also reported that the Russian filmmaker used the film’s festival press conference to compare the 'tragedy of Russian soldiers' to those defending Ukraine. This comes after almost three months since Russia's invasion of Ukraine and several artists across the world have stood in solidarity with the war-hit country.

As per Variety, Agnieszka Holland said:

“If it were up to me, I would not include Russian films in the official programme of the festival – even if Kirill Serebrennikov is such a talented artist. Unfortunately, my bad feelings were confirmed by his words. He used [the film’s festival press conference] to praise a Russian oligarch [the film’s funder, sanctioned billionaire Roman Abramovich] and compare the tragedy of Russian soldiers to Ukrainian defenders. I would not give him such a chance at this very moment.”

The 75th Cannes Film Festival has earlier spoken in support of Ukraine on several occasions and also announced that they would not allow any press accreditation requests from Russian publications or journalists that do not oppose the Ukraine war. In addition to this, they also released a statement regarding the war and mentioned they 'oppose this unacceptable situation and denounce the attitude of Russia and its leaders'.

The statement mentioned, "During this winter of 2022, the Festival de Cannes has entered its preparation phase. Unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government." 

(Image: AP)