As a further sign of Russia’s withdrawal from engagement with the Western world, the country’s film academy has announced that it will not submit films for upcoming films 2023 International Oscar contest.
The Oscar boycott comes amid growing tensions between Washington and Moscow following the Russian invasion Ukraine February 24 and its ongoing war of aggression.
Russia recently accused the U.S. government of direct intervention in the war and threatened to sever all official ties with the country.
But the decision of the Russian Academy to boycott the Oscars surprised local Oscar committee chairman Pavel Zukhlai, who told AFP The move was made “behind his back”. Tchoukhraï has resigned.
Russia regularly submits films for the Oscars, and Russian films have an excellent track record at the American Film Institute. Andrey Zvyagintsev Loveless got a Oscar nomination. Beanpole2019 (2019) by Kantemir Balagov and by Andrei Konchalovsky Dear comrades 2019, were shortlisted for the best international feature film honor.
Russia’s military invasion has led many major film festivals to ban Russian state-sponsored films. There have also been calls for a blanket boycott of all Russian films, although few major festivals have taken this step.
