Critics and film experts wrote an open letter in support of the film “Aita”

Open letter 70 film experts and film critics signed in support of Yakut director Stepan Burnashev’s film “Aita”. In September the Ministry of Culture recalled The film has a distribution certificate due to its demonstration of “inequality of persons based on nationality.”

The letter was sent to the Ministry of Culture and Roskomnadzor. It was signed by film critic, director and editor-in-chief of the magazine “Seance” Lyubov Arkus, columnist for the magazine Psychologies Victoria Belopolskaya, film critic Anton Dolin (recognized as a foreign agent), editor-in-chief of the magazine “Cinema Arts” Nikita Kartsev, as well as associate professor of the department of dramaturgy and film studies of St. Petersburg State Institute of Cinematography and Technology Nikita Smirnov.

“Burnashev’s painting in no way incites ethnic contradictions, but unequivocally condemns arbitrariness, no matter what causes it. But the ban on a film produced in Yakutia, which was carried out by two federal departments, certainly does not contribute to the unity of the peoples of Russia,” the open letter says.

The authors of the letter call peremptory refusals to issue or revocation of rental certificates “a vicious practice of the Ministry of Culture” that contradicts Article 29 of the Constitution, which prohibits censorship. The authors of the letter believe that a ban on rentals is possible only by a court decision. “In this case, we, who were forced to take on the functions of defense, insist that the film “Aita” be returned with a document giving it the opportunity to be publicly shown to an audience of 18+,” the letter says. The film was previously rated 16+.

The film “Aita” is the 13th film by Stepan Burnashev. Since February 2023, when the film received a distribution certificate, it has managed to become the highest-grossing Yakut film, collecting 26.4 million rubles at the box office. Roskomnadzor discovered it contains “destructive information that contradicts the principles of the unity of the peoples of Russia.”

The head of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, spoke in support of “Aita” and “The Candidate,” and the parliament of Yakutia called for an expert assessment of the ban on the film.

According to the plot of the film, the daughter of a hunting inspector, Aita, living in a Yakut village, tries to commit suicide. Her mother finds a note in her pocket with the words “Afonya, I hate you.” This is the name of the Russian policeman who gave the girl a ride home the day before. Later it turns out that the note was about a Yakut schoolboy from another village. Director Stepan Burnashev said that he sought to show in the film “what the disunity of peoples can lead to.”

Read more about the film in the material “Roskomnadzor watched “Aita””.

Anastasia Larina