Suspilne Ukraine expresses its strong disapproval and profound concern regarding the inclusion of the film Deaf Lovers by Russian director Boris Guts in the official competition of the 28th Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival. While we fully respect the festival's right to curate its programme based on the principles of non-discrimination, pluralism of thought, and artistic freedom, we strongly urge the festival organizers to reconsider the decision and withdraw the film from the competition programme, as well as from any subsequent screenings.
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Beneath the premise of a love story, this film presents a distorted portrayal in which victimization is idealized, and Russian aggression is justified. The film is being marketed as 'the best film in recent years about war and love', yet, it presents the aggressor as a victim, tired of the war. This misrepresentation serves as a dangerous form of manipulation, undermining collective accountability for the crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
Furthermore, given the festival’s strong and heartfelt support for the Ukrainian film industry since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, for which we are truly grateful, as well as the creation of the Standing with Ukraine programme, which features a number of outstanding films from contemporary Ukrainian cinema—films that serve as the voice of a country facing an existential threat to its very existence—we are all the more disappointed by the decision to include this film in the current selection. We view this decision as inconsistent with the values of solidarity and support that the festival has previously upheld, and it has caused us significant concern not only as a public broadcaster, but also as a production company of one of the films of the selection.
With this protest, we also express our solidarity with the position of the Association of Ukrainian Organizations in Estonia, as shared on their official social media page. In particular, thanks to the dialogue between the Association and the festival, a decision was reached to cancel the film's participation in the Standing with Ukraine focus programme. The inclusion of this film, both in form and meaning, can be interpreted as giving equal priority to the positions of the country that commits aggression and the country that suffers from it. However, it is important to note that the film was removed from the Standing with Ukraine programme without any official statement from the festival. In fact, the film still appears in the Ukrainian press release on the Russian-language version of the festival's website.
Such actions are, without a doubt, insufficient. With due respect and a belief in the potential for constructive dialogue, we urge the organizers of the Tallinn Film Festival to reconsider their decision and remove Deaf Lovers from the official competition. Such a decision seems to be the only consistent course of action for a festival that has demonstrated unwavering support for Ukrainian filmmakers and Ukraine's resistance to Russian aggression, as evidenced by the Standing with Ukraine focus programme. The film’s portrayal of war crimes committed by Russian forces in Bucha, presented through the monologue of a Ukrainian soldier in the trailer alone, contrasts stories of tortured civilians with the line 'War is filth’. This approach risks diminishing the significance of the victims and stripping them of their agency.
Given the love story presented between a 'Ukrainian girl and a boy from Russia,' with sympathy for the latter even shown in the festival’s trailer, the monologue in which 'the boy from Russia' complains about his fatigue from the war suggests that the Ukrainian civilians killed by Russian war criminals are reduced to mere background in a narrative of premature reconciliation, reinforcing the same notion of 'filth' in a way that goes beyond acceptable ethical boundaries.
The film also includes accusations against Ukrainian soldiers for committing war crimes, particularly the torture of prisoners. Such a claim, presented in a fictional form, is not part of artistic narrative—it is, in fact, an example of the instrumentalized 'soft power' of Russian imperial narratives. The purpose of this is to blur responsibility for the crimes committed through post-truth methods and to legitimize their actions with a form of approval, namely by participating in the official programs of the most prestigious global events, including the Tallinn International Film Festival.
We believe that the Tallinn International Film Festival, an influential platform for cultural diplomacy, close to Ukraine and its artists in terms of values and specific actions, will be ready to hear a consolidated Ukrainian position and will show trust in its objectivity, without resorting to the false emotionality of arguments. We sincerely hope for your support for Ukraine. We must remember that the future of Europe and democracy itself is at risk whenever we turn a blind eye to manipulation and the distortion of meaning.
Signed by:
- director Taras Tomenko, producers Pylyp Illienko, Andrii Ryzvaniuk, Lukian Halkin, Alona Holiakova, festival promotion producer Natalie Movshovych (Sentimental Journey to the Parajanov Planet)
- director Roman Bondarchuk, producer Darya Bassel (The Editorial Office)
- director Pavlo Ostrikov, producers by Volodymyr and Anna Yatsenko (U Are the Universe)
- producers Olha Beskhmelnytsina and Darya Bassel, director Oksana Karpovych (Intercepted)
- director Juri Rechinsky (Dear Beautiful Beloved)
- producer Vitalii Sheremetiev
- Ukrainian Institute
Підтримайте збір Суспільного Мовлення разом із Фондом "Повернись живим" для батальйону безпілотних авіаційних систем 14 Окремої механізованої бригади ЗСУ.
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