EU organises film festival in Moscow inspite war in Ukraine

The EU on Friday said that it is bringing back the European Film Festival to Russia this November despite Russia’s war against Ukraine.

The festival, which did not run in 2022 due to the conflict, would showcase 21 films from EU countries including Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Czech Republic and Luxembourg.

The festival would be held online from Nov. 1 – 15, mostly free of charge, according to the EU delegation in Russia.

Even in the difficult context of the Russian war against Ukraine, the EU wants to show that relations between Europeans and Russians can continue, EU Ambassador to Russia Roland Galharague said in Moscow.

Galharague said that while the EU had ended cooperation with the Russian government over the war, this should not reflect on the people of Russia.

“Cinema unites people,” the diplomat said in a Moscow cinema in front of hand-picked guests.

“Russian culture and art serves as a source of enrichment for film making in Europe as well.”

Two co-productions with Russian participation would also be shown.

Many Russian artists have left their homeland because they can no longer work freely in the country where Western culture is sometimes officially demonised.

Filmmakers in particular repeatedly complain about censorship by the Russian Ministry of Culture, which, for example, refuses to grant licences for the cinema distribution of films.

At the EU event to present the festival in Moscow, slogans about freedom and human rights flickered across the screen.

Some guests at the screening, which was not announced publicly, spoke of a climate of intimidation and fear in all spheres of Russian society.

The films, including documentaries, would be shown in their original language with subtitles in the online cinema platform Cool play.

Access without prior registration is only available to people in Russia or to people outside the country with access to a virtual private network (VPN) tunnel.