The Zurich Film Festival (ZFF) will finally no longer offer a public screening of the controversial documentary “Russians at War” by Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, it announced Thursday evening. Public safety comes first, he said.
Anastasia Trofimova’s film, however, remains in the festival’s documentary competition, according to the press release published on the social network X. But the Russian-Canadian director will not come to Zurich, the ZFF further specifies.
Just last Thursday, the director of the festival, Christian Jungen, maintained his decision to present the film, although the latter was criticized for minimizing Russian war crimes in Ukraine.
>> Read about it: The controversial documentary “Russians at war” maintained by the Zurich Film Festival
Threats in Toronto
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs then warned the ZFF in a press release on X that screening the film would ruin the reputation of the festival. It is not a documentary, he said, but a propaganda film which minimizes war crimes.
The film, for which the director accompanied a Russian military unit at war against Ukraine for several months, sparked strong reactions, especially among Ukrainians. Screenings at the Toronto Film Festival had to be canceled due to threats.
Round table canceled
Anastasia Trofimova, who worked as a journalist for the Russia Today media group, close to the Kremlin, rejected the accusations. She worked independently and did not seek permission from the Russian Defense Ministry for the film, she said.
Christian Jungen had indicated that the screening of the film would be accompanied by a round table discussing the history of the film’s creation. So it won’t be the case. Christian Jungen also said he “understands the discontent of the Ukrainians” and recognized that the director was “not without problems” due to her previous job.
ats/asch
