Russia will boycott the 2023 Oscars
Russia will boycott the 2023 Oscars amid ongoing conflicts in Ukraine. The Russian film academy recently announced that the nation will not submit a film for consideration in the International feature category.
In a statement transcribed by The Guardian, the Russian Film Academy revealed: “The presidium of the Film Academy of Russia has decided not to nominate a national film for the Oscars award of the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2022.”
Variety has since reported that several members of Russia’s Oscar nomination committee, including its chairman, Pavel Tchoukhrai, have handed in their resignation notices. According to a letter published by state news agency Tass, Tchoukhrai accused the Russian film academy of pushing a “unilateral decision over the head of the committee,” which he described as both “unfair and illegal”.
A country hasn’t boycotted the Oscars since 1991, a time when the Soviet Union collapsed. To many, Russia’s decision not to take part in the annual film event looks like another attempt to distance itself from the West. Indeed, tensions between Russia and the US have been mounting ever since the former’s re-invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Evgeniy Gindilis, one of the Russian film academy members who resigned following the boycott decision, told Variety: “We can’t do business as usual when we’re at war,” adding, “I left the committee on Feb. 27 after Russia invaded Ukraine. While it’s wrong that film festivals or awards ceremony are boycotting Russian films, I don’t feel that it’s right to participate in promoting Russian films at this time.”
In 1994, Russia was the Oscar for Best International Feature (previously Best Foreign Language Film) for Burnt By The Sun, which told the story of a Red Army officer and his family during the Stalinist purges of the 1930s. The nation also received a nomination for Andrey Zvyagintsev’s 2017 film Loveless, which won the jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival.
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