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Screening ban for The Death of Stalin based on expert opinions — Kremlin

On Tuesday, Russia’s Ministry of Culture withdrew the distribution certificate for The Death of Stalin film

MOSCOW, January 24. /TASS/. The Russian Culture Ministry’s decision to withdraw the distribution certificate for the Death of Stalin movie is based on expert opinions, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

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Russian Culture Ministry yanks distribution certificate for The Death of Stalin

"It is the Culture Ministry’s domain, there is an expert council," he said. "A rather large number of experts watched the move and came to certain conclusions. The Culture Ministry cannot but take expert opinions into consideration, because this is why experts meet. However, it is up to the ministry to make decisions," Peskov added.

On Tuesday, Russia’s Ministry of Culture withdrew the distribution certificate for The Death of Stalin, a British-French political satire film directed by Armando Iannucci, which was scheduled to be released in Russia on January 25. The movie, based on a graphic novel by Fabien Nury and Thierry Robin, is centered on the pursuit for power in the USSR following the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. The film stars Steve Buscemi, Jason Isaacs and Olga Kurilenko to name a few.

On Monday, a public screening of the picture took place, attended by film industry figures, State Duma (lower house of parliament) MPs, representatives of the Russian Historical Society as well as members of the Culture Ministry’s Public Board. Cultural figures who watched the flick requested the Culture Ministry yank its distribution credentials.

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