Ukrainian politicians and diplomats expressed indignation at the screening of Russian documentary filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova’s Russians At War at the Venice Film Festival. As Vesti.az reports with reference to the world media, the director was accused of trying to justify the occupation of Ukraine, but Trofimova herself claims that her film is anti-war.
In the tape, which, according to Trofimova, has an anti-war character, Russian soldiers appear as “victims” of political manipulation, and not as perpetrators of war crimes. This decision caused outrage among Ukrainian diplomats and the public.
Ambassador of Ukraine to Canada Yulia Kovaliv also strongly condemned the decision of the International Film Festival in Toronto to include this film in the program. She noted that Ukraine is deeply disappointed by this decision, which contradicts the mission of the festival — to change people’s worldview and their perception of the world through cinema.
“We are deeply disappointed that the festival decided to include a Russian propaganda film in its program. At a time when Russia continues to commit war crimes on the territory of Ukraine, the showing of such films can be perceived as an attempt to justify these crimes and present the aggressor in a better light.” Kovaliv said in her post on the X platform (formerly Twitter).
The ambassador also emphasized that Trofimova’s film distorts the reality of the war, showing it in a light favorable to Russian propaganda, which is unacceptable at the international level. She emphasized that such a screening at one of the most famous film festivals in the world is an irresponsible step that can harm the international perception of the conflict. Kovaliv called on the festival to cancel the screening of this film.
