Industry Veteran Denis Ivanov On The Fight To Preserve Ukraine’s Culture: “We Are Unique And We Are Not A Part Of Russia” — Deadline Disruptors

Vivienne Chow Restored versions of Chinese language cinema classics Wong Kar-wai’s “Days of Being Wild” (1990) and Jia Zhangke’s first full-length feature “Pickpocket” (“Xiao Wu”) 1998) will lead the inaugural program of Hong Kong’s M+ Cinema, which will be opened to the public on June 8.The opening program also features the Hong Kong premiere of one of the films from Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovskiy’s epic project series “DAU,” making the M+ Museum notable for not canceling Russian culture following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.The cinema, comprising three theaters with seating capacity of 180, 60, and 40 seats, is a core facility of the Moving Image Centre at M+, the visual culture museum that opened in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District in November last year. Moving images, including artist-made audio-visual works, artist films, and traditional feature films, are considered among one of the three key disciplines of the mega institution housed in a building designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron.

Boris Johnson is facing increasing hostility from his own MPs, with Tory whips said to be discussing how to fight back if rebels trigger an all-important confidence vote.

Naman Ramachandran Ukraine’s Kalush Orchestra, popular winners of the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest, have raised $900,000 for their country’s military by auctioning their winners’ trophy.The auction for the crystal microphone trophy was conducted on Facebook on Sunday by Ukrainian TV presenter Serhiy Prytula.“You guys are amazing! We appreciate each and every one of you who donated to this auction and a special thanks to Team WhiteBIT who purchased the trophy for $900,000 and are now the rightful owners of our trophy. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” Kalush Orchestra posted on Facebook on Monday.

Ben Croll Ukrainian producers Anna Eliseeva, Egor Olesov, and Iryna Kostyuk – who had just left the car after driving the two-day drive between Kyiv and Cannes — kicked off this year’s Annecy Goes to Cannes Animation Day with a call to arms.“While Ukraine is fighting with Russia we need to keep fighting on a cultural level,” said Olesov, whose project “Mavka, The Forest Song” (pictured) was one of five works-in-progress presented at a May 22 morning session. “Culture is our strongest weapon right now, and we need to show ours to the whole world.

Christopher Vourlias Powerhouse producers Valeriy Fedorovich and Evgeniy Nikishov, the creative duo behind Netflix’s first Russian original series, “Anna K,” quietly left 1-2-3 Production in early March and are now focused on their Moscow-based shingle MC2.Though the announcement was formally made just days removed from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Fedorovich said the plan to leave the Gazprom-Media-backed production outfit had been set in motion long ago.“When we set up our own company, it was clear that we [would] have to say goodbye to 1-2-3 Production,” Fedorovich told Variety. “We used to work for others; now we want to work for ourselves.”As the co-heads of the Moscow-based outfit which they launched in 2018, Fedorovich and Nikishov were the creative force behind the plague thriller “To the Lake,” a series that made top 10 lists across the globe after it was acquired by Netflix, and wrapped production last year on the streamer’s first original Russian drama series, “Anna K,” a contemporary retelling of Leo Tolstoy’s classic novel “Anna Karenina.” They were also tapped to produce the Netflix original series “Nothing Special.” But the war in Ukraine, which entered its fourth month this week, has left many high-profile Russian film and TV projects in limbo, as global streaming platforms, international distributors and a range of industry partners have either suspended or pressed pause on their Russian operations.Fedorovich and Nikishov could not comment on the status of either of the two Netflix series currently in the pipeline.

Marta Balaga Ukrainian industry players gathered in Cannes are determined to show they can provide a variety of new content, as well as stories that look beyond the current Russian invasion.“I have been repeating this since 2014 — it’s a trap to be only associated with war,” says producer Julia Sinkevych, now behind Marysia Nikitiuk’s upcoming feature “Lucky Girl.”Presented at the Cannes Market as part of the Ukrainian Features Preview, it shows a successful TV star who has everything, until she is diagnosed with cancer.As noted by Ukrainian Institute’s Natalie Movshovych, several projects focus on the 1990s, including “When We Were 15” — awarded at Meeting Point Vilnius in April — “Do You Love Me?” by Tonia Noyabriova, Philip Sotnychenko’s “Lapalissade” and “Rock. Paper.

Christopher Vourlias One day after dissident Russian filmmaker Kirill Serebrennikov’s “Tchaikovsky’s Wife” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, members of the Ukrainian film industry took to the Croisette to call for a total boycott of Russian movie. Meanwhile, just steps away in the Palais des Festivals, the director’s long-awaited return to cinema’s grandest stage was overshadowed by questions about the festival’s controversial selection and over the film’s financial ties to Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich.Speaking at a politically charged press conference on Thursday, Serebrennikov described Russia’s war in Ukraine as a “total catastrophe” but rejected calls for a boycott of Russian film.

When Marina Ovsyannikova stormed the live broadcast of Russia’s flagship news program on March 14 to protest Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it was a valiant moment that quickly reverberated across the world. The journalist and editor spent six seconds holding a sign saying, “No war, they are lying to you,” on the Kremlin-controlled TV Channel One where she worked.

Ukraine and women in combat gear, as the annual song contest took on ever more political tones.The video was released hours after Kalush Orchestra brought Ukraine its third Eurovision win, pulling ahead of Britain in the grand final after the votes from some of the estimated 200 million viewers from 40 participating countries were tallied.Band members posed for photos and signed autographs outside their Turin hotel Sunday, en route to an interview with Italian host broadcaster RAI. They must return to Ukraine on Monday after being given special permission to leave the country to attend the competition.Russia was barred from the Eurovision Song Contest this year after its Feb.

Marta Balaga Paris-based Celluloid Dreams has boarded Antonio Lukich’s upcoming feature “From Ukraine to Luxembourg,” currently in post-production and aiming to premiere in the fall.The Ukrainian director debuted in 2019 with “My Thoughts Are Silent,” a dramedy about a sound recordist asked to record animal sounds from Western Ukraine. But here is the catch: his mother decides to join him. The film was awarded a Special Jury Prize at Karlovy Vary’s East of the West section.In “From Ukraine to Luxembourg,” starring Ramil Nasirov, Amil Nasirov, Natalia Gnitii and Liumyla Sachenko, two twin brothers have to deal with the disappearance of their father.