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Russian filmmaker Konchalovsky takes swipe at Oscars ‘overrated’ importance

When asked whether or not he would like to make a film about contemporary wars, Konchalovsky said that he doesn’t think that he should make movies about all the terrible things going on in the world

© Nikolay Galkin/TASS

MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. Prominent Russian film director Andrei Konchalovsky whose latest film Paradise was put on the Oscar shortlist for Best Foreign Language Film told TASS that the importance of the Academy Awards is overrated by the Russian and global media.

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Andrei Konchalovsky: 'Art is not an athletic competition'

"I think that the Oscars are extremely overrated by the Russian and world media. I do not care for the rest," Konchalovsky said.

The black and white film tells the story of Russian emigre Olga Kamensky, a Frenchman named Jules and a German, Helmut, who ended up on opposite sides of the war, yet are bound together emotionally. There is an element of surprise in Konchalovsky’s film in how the story is told, through unexpected cinematographic language. The leading role is played by actress Yuliya Vysotskaya, Konchalovsky’s wife, other actors include Christian Clauss, Philippe Duquesne, Viktor Sukhorukov and Peter Kurt.

When asked at Thursday’s news conference dedicated to the new movie’s release whether or not he would like to make a film about contemporary wars, Konchalovsky said that he doesn’t think that he should make movies about all the terrible things going on in the world.

Read also

Konchalovsky’s Oscar nominated Paradise to hit Russian screens on January 19

"There is Syria, Lebanon, Sudan, lots of places, where catastrophes are taking place, where evil hides beneath the clothes of good, but I don’t have enough time left to make movies about all of that," the director said.

He added that now people are deliberating about the possibility of a world war breaking out in the future over the lack of drinking water. "That problem is increasing, the topic is more global and it is of interest to me," Konchalovsky noted.

Paradise is set to be released in Russia on January 19, 2017.

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