Russian Film Academy Pres resigns over body’s ‘unilateral’ decision to boycott Oscars 2023
In a bid to withdraw any further contact from the Western world, Russia’s film academy has decided not to put forward a film to compete in the Oscars this year.
In a bid to withdraw any further contact from the Western world, Russia’s film academy has decided not to put forward a film to compete in the Oscars this year. The move comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Moscow in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on February 24 this year and its growing aggression.
Recently, the country accused the U.S. administration of directly intervening in the war and has threatened to cut all official ties with the country. The news of them boycotting the Academy Awards 2023 was announced on Monday evening. According to Variety, soon after the news went viral, several members of Russia’s Oscar committee, including its president Pavel Tchoukhraï, resigned to protest the decision of the Russian film academy.
Russia boycotts Oscars 2023
President Tchoukhraï issued a letter, unveiled by veteran journalist Larisa Malyukova, in which he blamed the Russian film academy for taking a “unilateral decision over the head of the committee” and said it was both “unfair and illegal.”
Having their stronghold over art and culture, Russia has regularly submitted films for the Oscars and their movies have a brilliant track record with the US Academy.
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Variety further reports that for years, Russia had consistently sent movies to the Oscars. Russia was shortlisted twice since then, in 2019 with Kantemir Balagov’s Beanpole, which had won a prize at Un Certain Regard at Cannes, and Andrei Konchalovsky’s Dear Comrades, winner of the Special Jury Prize at Venice, highlighting the nation’s vibrant film culture and industry. Russia was nominated in 2017 for Andrey Zvyagintsev’s “Loveless,” which won the jury prize at Cannes.
The International magazine further quoted local news outlet TASS and revealed how a famous filmmaker from Russia, Nikita Mikhalkov, is in the favour of this decision that has created quite a stir. For Mikhalkov, “it didn’t make sense” to select a film that will represent Russia in a country which, in reality, “currently denies its existence”. The filmmaker, who resigned from the Oscar committee in August, has said he wanted to organize an equivalent to the Oscars for Europe and Asia.
