Berlin Film Festival Condemns Russia’s ‘War of Aggression,’ Refuses to Boycott Filmmakers Based on Origin

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry is reporting that Lithuanian film director Mantas Kvedaravicius was killed Saturday in Mariupol, the under seige Ukrainian city and subject of his documentary films.

Pope Francis has said was considering visiting Kyiv as he condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching a “savage” war. Speaking after his arrival in Malta, he delivered his most pointed and personalised denunciation yet of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

EXCLUSIVE: Influential Ukrainian film producer Denis Ivanov, whose credits include Sergey Loznitsa’s Donbass and Oleg Sentsov’s Rhino, says the lack of support from major film festivals for a boycott of Russian culture is tantamount to complicity in Vladimir Putin’s war.

The head of an international film festival in Lithuania has expressed support for the proposed boycott of Russian cinema, despite the majority of major fests declining to join the movement.

The Berlin International Film Festival has joined fellow events including Cannes and Venice in saying it will not ban Russian movies at the next edition of its fest, but will block official Russian delegates.

Anna Marie de la Fuente Documentaries about the conflict in Ukraine, the Cuban migrant situation and the Palestinian refugee crisis were among top winners at MiradasDoc, Spain’s foremost documentary film festival which wrapped its 15th edition on March 12. Based in Tenerife, Canary Islands, the festival was an in-person event running March 4-12, while its market (March 8-11) remained virtual for the second consecutive year.The best international documentary prize went to “Option Zero” (“La Opcion Cero”) by Cuban filmmaker Marcel Beltran while the best debut feature award was extended to “Trenches” by French journalist Loup Bureau who has covered the Arab Spring in Egypt, the Syrian War and the Russian-Ukrainian conflict in the Donbas region. “Trenches” follows the intrepid young men and women who are fighting Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s Donbas region.

J. Kim Murphy The Kyiv-based Molodist International Film Festival has penned an open letter to the film community calling on other festivals to join in a boycott of Russian films as a response to the invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces.The festival’s statement cites an ongoing effort by modern Russia to “separate culture from politics” and to “[use] that same culture to distract the West from Russia’s wars, human rights violations, censorship and persecution of political dissidents.”“There are Russian filmmakers and intellectuals who have been truly vocal in their dissent and criticism of Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine throughout these years, and we know some of them personally,” the statement reads.

The Sarajevo Film Festival is the latest international film organization to show its support for Ukraine as the festival has announced it will include Ukrainian films and filmmakers in its regional programs. The beloved European festival originally started off as regional event for Balkan films and has since evolved to incorporate Southeast Europe and the Causcasus region.

Wyatte Grantham-Philips editorThe Sun Valley Film Festival, which will be returning in-person for its 11th annual event from March 30 to April 3, has announced additional awards and films that will be screened this year.Variety will present this year’s Pioneer Award to Danny Strong on April 1. As a writer, director, actor and producer, Strong has earned two Emmys, a Golden Globe, two WGA awards, a PGA Award and a Peabody Award — with credits ranging from both parts of “The Hunger Games: Mockingjay” to “Dopesick.” Previous Pioneer Award winners include Shaka King, Aaron Paul, Eliza Hittman and Mark Duplass.Also on April 1, the Rising Star Award will be given to Netflix’s “Outer Banks” cast members Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss, Rudy Pankow, Austin North, Drew Starkey and Carlacia Grant.

The Toronto Film Festival said Thursday that it will suspend participation by film organizations and media outlets supported by the Russian state for its next festival, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Ellise Shafer The Toronto Film Festival has banned all official Russian delegations from its 2022 edition following the country’s invasion of Ukraine, but will welcome work from independent Russian filmmakers into their programming.“As an arts organization dedicated to transforming the way people see the world through film, we support artists and their freedom of expression. TIFF will continue to include films from independent Russian filmmakers in our programming at the Toronto International Film Festival and year-round at TIFF Bell Lightbox,” festival organizers said in a statement to Variety on Thursday.

The three key side events of the Cannes Film Festival – Critics’ Week, ACID and the Directors’ Fortnight – will not be joining the boycott of Russian cinema.

statement in solidarity with Ukraine and condemned Russia’s military aggression amid calls for boycotts, specifically for artists featured in an art pavilion and exhibition that begins in April (Russia withdrew from the art pavilion earlier this week). But they clarified that they will not “shut its doors to those who defend freedom of expression.” “La Biennale is also close to all those in Russia who are courageously protesting against the war.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has issued a chilling warning that any impending world war 'will become nuclear'.

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The Cannes Film Festival has taken a position on the war in Ukraine, and will bar Russian delegations at its 75th edition this May. "As the world has been hit by a heavy crisis in which a part of Europe finds itself in a state of war, the Festival de Cannes wishes to extend all its support to the people of Ukraine and all those who are in its territory," reads a statement released on Tuesday.

Ashton Kutcher called out Russian media for "lying" as the country continues to invade Ukraine. Kutcher has continued to show his support for Ukraine on social media. His wife, Mila Kunis, was born in the country and lived there right until the fall of the Soviet Union.