Venice Chief Alberto Barbera Defends Selection of Russian Director Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s ‘DAU’ After Backlash: It’s ‘Not Pro-Putin Propaganda’

By John Bleasdale

John Bleasdale

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Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera took to social media on Wednesday to fight back against criticism of the inclusion of Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s “DAU” in this year’s edition.

Acknowledging the “bloody and cruel war” in Ukraine, Barbera wrote in an Instagram post that “to build a web of accusations based on false premises and the manipulation of reality in order to attack the Biennale and a film invited to compete is a petty and unacceptable act. ‘DAU’ is not a Russian film; it is not pro-Putin propaganda. It is a film that denounces totalitarian regimes and their intrusion into citizens’ lives to restrict their freedom.” 

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