Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has appealed to the organizers of the film festival in Zurich , calling on them to give up their intentions to screen the film by Russian documentarian Anastasia Trofimova "Russians at War", BBC reports, as quoted by News.bg.
In Kiev they call this film propaganda and accuse the director Anastasia Trofimova of trying to justify the occupation of Ukraine. She herself claims to have created an anti-war film.
"We call on the organizers of the Zurich Film Festival not to spoil the reputation of the festival by showing the film "Russians at War". It is a propaganda film, “washing” war crimes, not a documentary. The real Russians at war are invaders, war criminals and rapists. Concealing them, you become accomplices," George Tikhii, spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, wrote on the social network.
As the Swiss publication 20 Minuten wrote, the film by Russian documentarian Anastasia Trofimova was supposed to be shown at the Zurich Film Festival on October 11.
Now the film does not appear in the program and it is not yet clear whether it will be shown at the festival.
Trofimova shot the film "Russians at War" after spending several months with Russian troops invading Ukraine.
Trofimova's film, which was financed by the Canadian Film Fund, has already been shown at the Venice Film Festival and the Toronto Film Festival, prompting protests from Ukrainian authorities. They condemn any attempt to provide Russia with a cultural platform on which to “clean“ his war crimes.