The European Film Academy (EFA) has issued a strongly worded condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, though only after prominent Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa resigned from the organisation in protest at its initial response to the crisis.
In a statement released on 1 March, the EFA said it had “joined the massive global sanctions currently in effect against Russia and fully supports the call of the Ukrainian Film Academy to boycott Russian film. The Academy strongly condemns the war started by Russia – Ukraine’s sovereignty and territory must be respected. Putin’s actions are atrocious and totally unacceptable, and we strongly condemn them.”
The statement added: “We are fully aware that several of our members are fighting with arms against the aggressor. The academy will therefore exclude Russian films from this year’s European film awards and we lend our support to each element of the boycott.”
The EFA’s statement follows an open letter from Loznitsa, director of In the Fog, Donbass and State Funeral, criticising the organisation for its first reaction. In his letter, published in Screen International, Loznitsa described the EFA’s first statement, issued on Thursday, as “shameful” and “gibberish”, adding: “Is it really possible that you – humanists, human rights and dignity advocates, champions of freedom and democracy, are afraid to call a war a war, to condemn barbarity and voice your protest?”
Loznitsa was reacting to a statement by EFA director Matthijs Wouter Knol, in which Knol said that “the current events and daily increase of tension has an impact on film-makers’ lives and health, morale, and creative work”, and that the EFA “will stay alert and [is] in touch with our Ukrainian members … and will support all those affected in the best way we can.”
In its second statement, the EFA said: “We acknowledge that this reaction should have come at an earlier point in the past days, but our democratic processes needed to be followed… [but] working quietly behind the scenes, [we] managed to raise funds and put together support structures.”
The Cannes film festival also announced on Tuesday that it was joining the boycott of the Russian film industry. In a statement it said that “unless the war of assault ends in conditions that will satisfy the Ukrainian people, it has been decided that we will not welcome official Russian delegations nor accept the presence of anyone linked to the Russian government”.
