On the Ukrainian front, the Russians can be recognized by their famous "Z", and by another letter, "V," which is also inscribed on their armor. Some see it as a reference to Brother 2, an action film by Russian director Aleksei Balabanov. Made in 2000 and re-released in Russian theaters after the beginning of the invasion, it features a veteran of the Chechnyan war up against the Ukrainian mafia. "Where does the power reside? The power is in the truth," the film declares. This is a line that Russian President Vladimir Putin appropriated, on February 24, during his declaration of war: "Where do justice and truth reside?"
Film is a weapon, and the current battle is also being waged on-screen. Ukrainian filmmakers are well aware of this and, since the beginning of the invasion, have been fighting on social networks to demand a boycott of Russian films. "The Maidan revolution began on Facebook, at the end of 2013," says Anna Koriagina, 31, a Ukrainian translator and programmer.
From Kyiv, Odesa or Lviv, where Ms. Koriagina, who works in France, returned "to put her parents in a safe place," people are watching what is happening in the West. Programming a Russian film festival, then, from March 31 to April 3 in Nantes, western France, provoked outrage. Why did they decide to rename the event "Between Lviv and the Urals"? "Behind what was intended to be an act of solidarity lies old Russian imperialism," explained Ms. Koriagina. On March 27, encouraged by the mayor of Lviv who condemned the wording of the title as "inhumane," nearly 150 activists protested in front of the Katorza, an art house cinema in Nantes. The next day, the festival was canceled.
"The last people who marched against a screening at the Katorza were Catholic fundamentalists, for the film Hail Mary (1985)," said an emotional Macha Milliard, Russian professor at the University of Nantes. "With the war, we completely revised our program. A quarter of the films were Ukrainian and the rest were works that were very critical of Putin's Russia... I regret that our message has been twisted in order to ignite tensions."
A patriotic outburst
On social media, Ms. Milliard was labeled a Nazi. Joël Chapron, a French specialist in Eastern European cinema and occasional contributor to Le Monde, was described as a "collaborator". At the Reflections of Black Sea Cinema film festival (Reflets du cinéma de la mer Noire) on March 20 in Mayenne, north western France, Mr. Chapron presented Dear Comrades!, by Andrei Konchalovsky. The film was awarded the Special Jury Prize at the 2020 Venice film festival. Konchalovsky and his brother, Nikita Mikhalkov, remain close to the Kremlin. In 2014, they had approved the annexation of Crimea. "I am anti-Putin and in favor of opposing views," said Joël Chapron, "but the Ukrainians who call for a total boycott are shooting themselves in the foot."
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