Director of Canceled Film ‘The Antique’ Blames Russian Censorship

Georgian director Rusudan Glurjidze, whose drama “The Antique” depicts the mass deportation of Georgians from the country by Russian authorities, on Friday asserted that she is being censored by an ongoing Russian campaign against the movie and pleaded for support after the film was prevented from screening at the Venice Film Festival.

Set in 2006 in Russia, “The Antique” touches on the deportation of thousands of Georgians from the country at the time. It was selected by the Venice Days section, a body that is run independently from the Venice Biennale.

As previously reported, the sidebar’s organizers and the fest’s parent org, the Venice Biennale, canceled the press and industry screening of “The Antique” scheduled for Wednesday after prominent Italian media lawyer Bruno Della Ragione, who was hired by three production companies — Viva Film in Russia, Avantura Film in Croatia and Pygmalion in Cyprus — obtained an emergency injunction from the Court of Venice over an alleged copyright dispute regarding the film’s script, according to a statement issued by Venice Days.

Asked about details of this legal dispute, Glurjidze said: “I am a filmmaker, not a lawyer. But I can tell you that I am in the middle of Europe and I am being censored. I think this is very worrying.”

“I am totally sure that we are up against a big struggle against censorship,” she added subsequently, noting that if the film does not get visibility in Venice, “this will be a ghost film.”
Venice Days organizers pledged to try and get the injunction lifted before the festival ends on Sept. 7.

“We are doing everything we can,” said section president Giorgio Gosetti, who declined to specify what action they are trying to take.

Gosetti also declined to specify whether “The Antique” will be seen by the section’s jury and therefore will be eligible to compete for a prize, even if it does not screen for the public.

Glurjidze said a Georgian lawyer is also working on fighting the injunction. The Venice Court judge issued the injunction without hearing from the film’s other producers who are at the center of the alleged copyright issue.

“‘The Antique’ boldly portrays the brutal and unlawful deportation of my compatriots, encapsulated through the lives of four central figures: Medea, Vadim Vadimich, Lado and Peter,” according to a synopsis of the film.

In a statement issued before the film’s screening at Venice was blocked, Glurjidze said that “Initially, problems started when the Russian ministry of culture demanded the removal of multiple scenes. The Georgian team refused, leading to attempts to obstruct the shoot and, ultimately, the confiscation of the film material at the border. Fortunately, two copies were saved.”

She alleged that “after this, they started to block the film.”

“The Antique” producers are Zurab Magalashvili, Manana Shevardnadze, Andrey Epifanov, Tanya Petrik, Jussi Myllyniemi, Uschi Feldges, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tatiana Detlofson.

The lead production company is Cinetech. The co-production companies are Cinetrain, Whitepoint Digital and Basis Berlin Filmproduction.