Berliner Boersenzeitung - Cancel Dostoevsky? Russian director calls for moderation

EUR -
AED 4.26841
AFN 80.362394
ALL 97.542216
AMD 446.735356
ANG 2.080099
AOA 1065.794205
ARS 1481.767207
AUD 1.776887
AWG 2.092071
AZN 1.980459
BAM 1.954642
BBD 2.348809
BDT 141.226338
BGN 1.956132
BHD 0.43834
BIF 3466.946195
BMD 1.162261
BND 1.493215
BOB 8.038238
BRL 6.486005
BSD 1.163311
BTN 100.147673
BWP 15.618748
BYN 3.807045
BYR 22780.325028
BZD 2.336716
CAD 1.596076
CDF 3354.287055
CHF 0.932981
CLF 0.029194
CLP 1120.296341
CNY 8.342655
CNH 8.346165
COP 4674.330945
CRC 587.052233
CUC 1.162261
CUP 30.799929
CVE 110.199718
CZK 24.634179
DJF 206.947405
DKK 7.463699
DOP 70.258379
DZD 151.514244
EGP 57.439973
ERN 17.433922
ETB 161.636047
FJD 2.620788
FKP 0.864949
GBP 0.86668
GEL 3.150183
GGP 0.864949
GHS 12.127816
GIP 0.864949
GMD 83.106172
GNF 10094.020343
GTQ 8.931709
GYD 243.385819
HKD 9.117884
HNL 30.445964
HRK 7.532663
HTG 152.739518
HUF 398.923459
IDR 18977.696027
ILS 3.902549
IMP 0.864949
INR 100.127437
IQD 1523.897249
IRR 48945.741055
ISK 142.354235
JEP 0.864949
JMD 186.029797
JOD 0.824089
JPY 172.932309
KES 150.300962
KGS 101.640213
KHR 4662.238109
KMF 491.989694
KPW 1046.046309
KRW 1616.942576
KWD 0.355234
KYD 0.969426
KZT 620.152624
LAK 25087.138481
LBP 104232.653
LKR 350.972086
LRD 233.241828
LSL 20.596898
LTL 3.431856
LVL 0.703041
LYD 6.327252
MAD 10.519168
MDL 19.788278
MGA 5176.933206
MKD 61.523554
MMK 2439.678938
MNT 4168.013035
MOP 9.404829
MRU 46.275587
MUR 53.119698
MVR 17.903172
MWK 2017.205016
MXN 21.795313
MYR 4.935007
MZN 74.338683
NAD 20.596898
NGN 1779.387897
NIO 42.814637
NOK 11.840776
NPR 160.236077
NZD 1.945045
OMR 0.446995
PAB 1.163311
PEN 4.140847
PGK 4.817146
PHP 66.377189
PKR 331.310933
PLN 4.244785
PYG 9003.666265
QAR 4.229694
RON 5.072695
RSD 117.080642
RUB 91.375869
RWF 1681.00418
SAR 4.36165
SBD 9.64543
SCR 17.082281
SDG 697.942292
SEK 11.235354
SGD 1.492813
SHP 0.913355
SLE 26.62005
SLL 24372.046713
SOS 664.806172
SRD 43.245469
STD 24056.466061
STN 24.485495
SVC 10.17897
SYP 15112.803405
SZL 20.592801
THB 37.628259
TJS 11.196867
TMT 4.079538
TND 3.419874
TOP 2.722137
TRY 46.897678
TTD 7.897322
TWD 34.181766
TZS 3030.404801
UAH 48.58252
UGX 4168.530579
USD 1.162261
UYU 46.882227
UZS 14725.276806
VES 135.943958
VND 30404.760344
VUV 138.92149
WST 3.080055
XAF 655.568644
XAG 0.030448
XAU 0.000347
XCD 3.14107
XCG 2.096558
XDR 0.815317
XOF 655.568644
XPF 119.331742
YER 280.163552
ZAR 20.584139
ZMK 10461.752209
ZMW 26.785133
ZWL 374.247723
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Cancel Dostoevsky? Russian director calls for moderation
Cancel Dostoevsky? Russian director calls for moderation / Photo: Stefano RELLANDINI - AFP

Cancel Dostoevsky? Russian director calls for moderation

Russian movie director Kirill Serebrennikov on Thursday said that boycott of his country's cultural activities in reaction to the ongoing war in Ukraine were understandable, but could go too far.

Text size:

Speaking to AFP at the Cannes Film Festival, Serebrennikov -- the only Russian national with a film in competition -- condemned Vladimir Putin's war which has sparked calls notably from Ukrainian film-makers to ban all Russians from the event.

"I understand why they say what they say, because they are in a terrible situation," he said. "For them it's even difficult to hear the Russian language, I can understand that. But for European culture to cut off Russian culture would be a big mistake."

He added: "Are you ready to cancel Chekhov, Dostoevsky and Leo Tolstoy? Other Russian geniuses? It's not right to cancel people because of their nationality."

- 'Sad story' -

Serebrennikov's film "Tchaikovsky's Wife" is vying for the Palme d'Or along with 20 other movies in the festival's main competition. He received a standing ovation at its opening night, but reviews for his film have been mixed.

Calling his entry "an independent Russian film with a sad story from the 19th century", he said he was glad it was allowed thanks to the festival choosing "the right way" of not working with Russian officials while still allowing individual submissions.

Responding to Ukrainian film-makers' claims that Serebrennikov's entire career had been financed with Russian government money, he said that the money for "Tchaikovsky's Wife" had come from independent Russian businesses and private funds, as well as European funds.

The movie tells the story of celebrated composer Piotr Tchaikovsky's marriage to Antonina Miliukova that is doomed as soon as it becomes clear that Tchaikovsky, who was gay, has no interest in the relationship with her and wants to end it, while she doesn't.

- 'A little bit ridiculous' -

While accepted as fact in the West, the composer's homosexuality was not openly acknowledged in the Soviet Union and can still be a sensitive topic in today's Russia.

"It's a little bit ridiculous in the 21st century to talk about gay or not gay, homosexual or not homosexual," Serebrennikov said.

Sexual orientation was "not a topic at all" in western Europe, "but in Russia today it's a very sharp and painful question", he said.

"We have a law about 'gay propaganda', we have moments of discrimination because of their sexuality or their private lives. For me, that's not acceptable at all" and "hypocrisy".

But nor had he wanted to "talk about Tchaikovsky as only being gay", Serebrennikov said.

"I just wanted to make a truthful story about their relationship, and concerning this it's important to know that his sexual preferences were far from the traditional normal that was accepted by society in Tchaikovsky's time," he said.

"I decided to make a movie about people who don't hear each other, who don't understand each other. It's a kind of mutual misunderstanding, mis-feelings, and it's a fight of two egos," he added.

- 'Straight Tchaikovsky' -

Serebrennikov said he pulled out of an earlier attempt at making a movie about Tchaikovsky when government funding was made contingent on portraying him as heterosexual.

"They openly told us that they wanted a film about a straight Tchaikovsky. It was almost an order. We refused and we gave their money back," he said.

Serebrennikov said he believed in the power of culture to bring about change, and even stop the war in Ukraine.

This could happen "if culture reminds people of their humanity, and that war is not acceptable as a solution to your problems, that is old-fashioned, and that it leads only to suffering and blood, killing people, the destruction of cities".

He added: "Culture is part of the dialogue. Culture is a bridge between nations. It's the best solution."

Serebrennikov, 52, missed last year's Cannes festival because of a travel ban after being found guilty in 2020 of embezzling funds at Moscow's Gogol Centre theatre.

He was only allowed to leave Russia six weeks ago, and now lives in Berlin.

(L.Kaufmann--BBZ)