08/03/2022 - The director of Cannes' 2019 Un Certain Regard entry Homeward states "Russian culture has always been an instrument for legalizing all crimes committed by their authorities"

Ukrainian filmmaker Nariman Aliev, who participated in the Un Certain Regard section of the 2019 Cannes Film Festival with his first feature Homeward [+see also:
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(This is part of a series of open letters about the war that we are receiving from Ukrainian talent - read all of them here).

His statement:

"Ukraine is fighting for its freedom and its right to exist. Ukraine is fighting against the Russian Federation, which has no limits to its insane imperialist appetites. They are no longer ashamed to attack a sovereign country in front of the eyes of the world, having no right or reason to do so. Russian culture has always been an instrument for legalizing all crimes committed by their authorities. Russian soldiers and bombs are no different from their propaganda weapons, which may not kill people directly, but justify these atrocities or divert attention and shift the focus from the main thing. With the tacit consent of its compatriots, Russia is killing innocent people in Ukraine. The boycott of Russian cinema and culture is an attempt to cleanse the world of the propaganda of a terrorist state."