MOSCOW, July 5. /TASS/. The Russian Oscar Committee serves no purpose, while any Russian citizens who support US policy had better make their Oscar submission for a different country, prominent Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov told TASS.
"I think that the existence of the Russian Oscar Committee makes absolutely no sense," he pointed out. "Not only because the US Academy of Motion Picture Arts makes outrageously biased decisions but also because it would be rather strange - to put it mildly - for Russia to take part in a contest hosted by a country that is supplying weapons to kill Russian nationals and has imposed all these sanctions against us," Mikhalkov explained.
Mikhalkov also said that "there will certainly be some people here who don’t care about that and are ready to turn a blind eye to these crimes; but they would be better served representing another country in the competition."
The film director went on to say that today, "only a picture that is fully in line with Washington’s principles and norms can expect to get the award."
The Russian Oscar Committee operates under the National Academy of Film Arts and Sciences. In 2022, the Academy presidium decided not to nominate a Russian movie for the Oscars. In 2023, the committee’s activities were suspended. In the spring of 2022, Mikhalkov helped found the Eurasian Film Academy, which will have its own awards show. The academy is expected to commence work in 2025.
Three Russian movies have won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film: War and Peace by Sergey Bondarchuk (1968), Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears by Vladimir Menshov (1981) and Burnt by the Sun by Nikita Mikhalkov (1994).