Published26. September 2024, 7:17 p.m
Zurich: “Russians at War”: Zurich Film Festival cancels screening
The documentary about the war in Ukraine will not be shown at the Zurich Film Festival. According to the organizers, the reason is safety considerations.
von
-
The war documentary “Russians at War” is controversial.
-
Screenings of the film at the Toronto Film Festival had to be canceled after threats.
-
Now the Zurich Film Festival is also canceling the screening of the film.
The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) announced on Thursday evening that it would not publicly screen the controversial documentary “Russians at War” due to security considerations. “The safety of our audience, guests, partners and employees is the ZFF’s top priority,” writes the ZFF media office in a statement.
The film, which has already been shown at other international festivals – such as the Venice Biennale – remains in the ZFF documentary film competition. “Due to the current situation, director Anastasia Trofimova will not travel to Zurich.” Tickets that have already been sold will be refunded, according to the organizers.
Threats in Canada
Numerous people demonstrated against the planned screening of the film at the Toronto Film Festival in Canada. After “serious threats» the performances had to be canceled initially.
After several threats, TIFF had to cancel some screenings.
IMAGO/ZUMA Press
The organizers of the Zurich Film Festival nevertheless decided to bring the film to the screen: “We discussed for a long time whether we could show this film,” said festival director Christian Jungs at a media conference last week. They were aware of the propaganda allegations. “For us it is an anti-war film.”
In order to address the controversy, a panel discussion with the director would have been planned at the ZFF. Nevertheless, even the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry finally got involved and heavily criticized the planned demonstration.
Have you been following on Whatsapp for 20 minutes?
A news overview in the morning and at the end of the day, surprising stories and breaking news: Subscribe to the 20 Minutes WhatsApp channel and you will receive regular updates with our best stories directly to your cell phone.
