On sharp cinema, the war in Ukraine and the threat of arrest in Russia: a few thoughts from an interview with Alexander Rodnyansky

Famous Ukrainian and Russian producer Alexander Rodnyansky on June 18 as part of the Cherry Orchard festival will introduce in New York, the film "Mom, I'm home." This is his last film made in Russia, and it is about the war. In addition, the producer will host a Q&A session with the audience. You can buy tickets for the event here.

About the upcoming event, as well as how Russian law enforcement officers are hunting for it and pursuing an internal conflict, Rodnyansky spoke in interview with Voice of America.

“Mom, I'm at home” is a very interesting, wonderfully played, loud-sounding and interesting picture to watch. It premiered at the Venice Film Festival (it was very well received there). And after that, we managed to hold the premiere in a cinema in Moscow, and it went on limited release in several cinemas and stopped because the war began, ”Rodnyansky commented. He recalled that the film tells the story of a mother whose son went as a mercenary to the war in Syria and, according to the authorities, died. But everything turned out to be much more complicated. The main role in the film was played by the famous Russian actress Ksenia Rappoport.

The producer says that this film is very relevant now, even though it was filmed in 2021, before the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

About the arrest warrant

Rodnyansky was born in Ukraine, but lived in Russia for 20 years, created the STS channel there, made films and series. But with the outbreak of war, he started an anti-war blog, which earned him the status of a "foreign agent" and an arrest warrant for "discrediting the Russian army."

“I found out about the warrant for my arrest, well, it’s just ridiculous to the point of caricature. This news caught me in Cannes, at the film festival ... I was sitting in the cinema when a message came from my daughter, who has been living in the United States for many years (in Los Angeles). She sent a link to this news. And after that, there were already numerous sms and requests for an interview, and then also the reactions of a huge number of professionals from all over the world, most of whom wanted to support me, ”he shared the story of the warrant.

According to him, the current situation has amazed many of his colleagues outside of Russia, "because in our environment - among filmmakers - it is difficult to find people who issue an arrest warrant to catch."

Many were shocked by what came to the arrest, they did not expect this in relation to the famous producer.

“The reaction of colleagues to the order was emotional, like, how is this possible, can the Russian authorities, the Russian state, sink to such a level? But then there is also the article itself, which is excellent - "for the dissemination of false information that discredits the Russian army." Today I do not present information that can discredit the Russian army after everything that it has done in Ukraine,” Rodnyansky said.

Personally, he is not surprised by the warrant for his arrest and is sure that with the help of this document the Russian authorities are pursuing a specific goal: “The Russian authorities today make such decisions with a single purpose. And this goal, in my opinion, is to intimidate the rest. Well, this does not change anything in my life, as well as in the lives of many of my other friends and acquaintances who have already received sentences (some eight, some nine years in absentia). This is because none of us is in Russia. But for those who stayed there, it is a deterrent. If you can do this with respect to a producer - quite successful, who has worked for many years with the absolute best filmmakers in Russia - then you can do the same without any doubt. And this, it seems to me, is a completely obvious message, a message to those who remained in the country.

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Although the arrest warrant did not change Rodnyansky's life much, some adjustments to his schedule and travel still have to be made.

“Russia was thrown out of all international organizations, for example, from Interpol. Therefore, most countries do not accept her requests for my arrest. But, of course, one must be careful when a trip to the so-called Russian-friendly states. I don't know what is going on in Kazakhstan, and this is an important question for me, because I was going to shoot one of the upcoming projects in Kazakhstan. I don't know what's going on with China, I don't know what's going on with India. I understand that not it is worth flying routes that involve flying over Russia, ”the producer shared his thoughts.

About war

Rodnyansky admitted that since 2014, when the Russian Federation annexed Crimea, he felt uncomfortable living in Russia. But still, he continued to work there, because there were professionals with whom he was comfortable. He made poignant films and considered it "an expression of his position".

“For the last eight years in Russia, I have lived in a state of inner discomfort. I understood that my country, of which I am a citizen, was attacked and annexed part of the territory by the country in which I live, in which my interests, my family lives, in which a huge number of people live, with whom I work, I respect and feel I feel happy carrying out those joint projects that I carried out. And at the same time, the war with my country… I imagined with horror that if my mother, for example, who was a very patriotic Ukrainian citizen, my many relatives, were alive, what would happen? I probably would not have been able to hold out in Russia for these eight years, because even my son told me all the time about the inevitability of war. I tried to live inside my own bubble: social and cinematic, to make sharp films. For 8 years I have made all the most poignant films that I had anything to do with. But on February 24, 2022, I didn’t have a single chance. I realized that there was nowhere for me to retreat internally, because all the red lines that I had drawn for myself internally turned out to be crossed. I could not find a single internal argument in favor of being silent and not protesting against this war, ”the producer shared the sore.

According to him, the actions of the Russian authorities outrage him less than the silence of millions of Russians. This could be expected from the authorities, but the silence of the people is shocking.

“I am greatly outraged by what is happening, not even that Putin, his gang, this entire state system made this bloodthirsty decision. Before that, there was Crimea in the fourteenth year, and before that there was the eighth year in Georgia, and before that there was Moldova ... These were all small-scale military operations, relatively small, which a huge number of people could ignore, not notice. But such a thing as the war with Ukraine, where half of the Russians have relatives, in Russia there are millions under five Ukrainians, in Ukraine there are 10 million Russians, all of them have families. It is impossible to hide it,” he stressed.

For more about the life and work of Rodnyansky, about whether he will work with Russian artists, see the full version of the interview ⇓