{"id":98112,"date":"2025-08-28T04:35:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T04:35:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/woody-allen-defends-appearance-at-moscow-film-festival\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T04:35:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T04:35:14","slug":"woody-allen-defends-appearance-at-moscow-film-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/woody-allen-defends-appearance-at-moscow-film-festival\/","title":{"rendered":"Woody Allen defends appearance at Moscow film festival"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Oscar-winning director Woody Allen has responded to criticism from the Ukrainian government by defending his decision to attend a film festival in Moscow.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, I believe strongly that Vladimir Putin is totally in the wrong. The war he has caused is appalling,\u201d said Allen in a statement sent to CNN by his assistant.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut, whatever politicians have done, I don\u2019t feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allen made his statement following criticism from the Ukrainian government over his decision to headline the event over the weekend.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

U.S. director Woody Allen looks on during shooting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cWoody Allen\u2019s participation in the Moscow International Film Week is a disgrace and an insult to the sacrifice of Ukrainian actors and filmmakers who have been killed or injured by Russian war criminals in their ongoing war against Ukraine,\u201d said Ukraine\u2019s Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement earlier Monday.<\/p>\n

The Moscow International Film Week is sponsored by Russian state media, state-owned enterprises, and the Moscow City Government.<\/p>\n

A photo shared on the festival\u2019s official Telegram channel shows the 89-year-old filmmaker participating in a session via video link. He appeared in conversation with Russian director Fyodor Bondarchuk, a known ally of President Vladimir Putin who has publicly supported Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

According to the festival\u2019s press service, Allen said he liked Russian cinema, mentioning the Soviet version of \u201cWar and Peace\u201d that was directed by Sergei Bondarchuk, Fyodor Bondarchuk\u2019s father.<\/p>\n

Russian state media reported that during the session Allen said that, while he has no plans to make a movie in Russia, he has \u201conly good feelings for Moscow and St Petersburg.\u201d<\/p>\n

And Russian envoy Kirill Dmitriev claimed that Allen\u2019s appearance at the festival proved \u201cRussia isn\u2019t isolated.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to cancel Woody Allen over a video call at the Moscow International Film Festival misses the point: Russia isn\u2019t isolated \u2013 and art should build bridges, not burn them,\u201d Dmitriev wrote in a post on X.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Oscar-winning director Woody Allen has responded to criticism from the Ukrainian government by defending his decision to attend a film festival in Moscow. \u201cWhen it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, I believe strongly that Vladimir Putin is totally in the wrong. The war he has caused is appalling,\u201d said Allen in a statement sent […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":98113,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.bolnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/FotoJet-12-3.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-98112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-showbiz"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t