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Kyiv – Ukraine slammed American film-maker and actor Woody Allen on Aug 25 over an online appearance at a government-backed Moscow film festival, accusing the director of whitewashing Russia’s invasion.
Allen had a day earlier addressed the Moscow International Film Week via video link, where the 89-year-old was hailed in a session titled Legends Of World Cinema and said he would consider shooting a film in Russia if the chance presented itself.
The event was backed by Moscow city hall and supported by a host of Russian state-backed media companies.
“We strongly condemn Woody Allen’s decision to bless Moscow’s bloody festival with his address,” Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on social media.
“Culture must never be used to whitewash crimes or serve as a propaganda tool,” it added, posting a photo of Allen’s trademark black-frame glasses over a photo of a ravaged apartment block, hit by a Russian bomb.
Most Western cultural figures have cancelled performances in Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022.
In his address to a packed hall on Aug 24, Allen was interviewed by Russian director Fyodor Bondarchuk, a famed film-maker and long-time supporter and campaigner for Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“I’m someone who has always enjoyed Russian cinema,” Allen said, according to videos from the event.
He is best known for romantic comedies Annie Hall (1977), Manhattan (1979), Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) and Blue Jasmine (2013), and is considered a comic genius by many for his intellectual and intimate style.
His work, however, lost some of its lustre with critics in later years, and scandal has increasingly overshadowed his films.
Allen hardly ever works in the United States any more. He has been shunned by much of Hollywood following allegations he molested Dylan Farrow – his adopted daughter with his former partner, actress Mia Farrow – when she was seven. She is now 40.
He has long denied the allegations, saying they were fabricated by Mia Farrow, 80. AFP
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