Ksenia Sobchak at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum in June 2026. Photo by OLGA MALTSEVA / AFP For five years now, the intelligentsia who left Russia have spoken unkindly about Ksenia Sobchak, accusing her of working for the Kremlin. Sobchak, in turn, does not reach into his pocket for an answer. This balance of mutual reproaches was upset this summer when hackers hacked Sobchak’s correspondence (the authenticity of which she immediately denied).

"Odyssey" (2026, Christopher Nolan) On July 17, Christopher Nolan’s “Odyssey” will be released on world screens, causing heated discussion on social networks long before the premiere. Nolan was criticized either for the dark-skinned Elena the Beautiful, played by Lupita Nyong'o, or for turning a classic text into Hollywood peplum without regard for historical accuracy, and Zendaya, who played Pallas Athena, was even criticized by critics for the “wrong” earrings!

Still from the film “Citizen Avenger” (2026, Uwe Boll) Elon Musk tweeted the release of German director Uwe Boll's film Citizen Avenger, in which the title character played by Armie Hammer confronts illegal migrants from the Middle East who commit heinous crimes. Such an extravagant premiere location is due to the fact that the film was banned from distribution in Germany - to the delight of Eurosceptics and Kremlin propaganda.

Last week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched drones towards Moscow, which led to explosions at the Kapotnya oil refinery, and documentarian Andrei Loshak* produced the film “Plata for Risk” commissioned by Oleg Tinkov. Republic editor-in-chief Zinaida Pronchenko* compares two documentary evidence about Russians who don’t even know each other. Is it possible to rejoice at arrivals in Kapotnya? - asks my favorite author Sergei Erzhenkov indignantly in 2026.

Still from the film “Day of Disclosure” (2026, Steven Spielberg) Steven Spielberg's film "Day of Revelation" was released worldwide, where he again, after "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "E.T.", addresses the topic of the existence of messengers from extraterrestrial civilizations.

The 79th Cannes Film Festival ended with the triumph of Cristian Mungiu - he received the Palme d'Or for the second time in his career (almost 20 years ago, his "4 months, 3 weeks, 2 days", becoming the main film of Cannes 2007, opened Romanian cinema to the whole world). The main favorites of critics - Pavel Pavlikovsky and Andrei Zvyagintsev received prizes for best director and Grand Prix. Zinaida Pronchenko is dissatisfied with the jury's decision.

The Croisette in Cannes, 2026. photo by Zinaida Pronchenko The 79th Cannes Film Festival continues in France, and with it the blog of Republic editor-in-chief Zinaida Pronchenko from the Croisette. Today, she reflects on how the generation's leading auteurs, from Ryusuke Hamaguchi to Steven Soderbergh, are embracing the leftist agenda and critiquing capitalism from the heart of consumerism and luxury.

Still from the film “Fatherland”, dir. Pavel Pawlikowski, 2026 In competition at the Cannes Film Festival, Pawel Pawlikowski's Fatherland was shown, a drama about Thomas Mann's trip to divided Germany in 1949, a ruthless film about the vanity of artists, belated repentance and emigration.

This material (information) was produced and (or) distributed by a foreign agent Project “Republic” or relates to the activities of a foreign agent Project “Republic” Still from the film “A Woman’s Life”, dir. Charlene Bourgeois-Taquet, 2026 A French maxillofacial surgeon is trying to save medicine, defeat menopause and help Ukraine in the film “A Woman’s Life” by Charlene Bourgeois-Taquet. Zinaida Pronchenko watched the first film in the competition program of the 79th Cannes Film Festival.

The 79th Cannes Film Festival is my 13th. The first time I came to the Croisette was at the invitation of François Ozon, who was presenting in the competition the film “Young and Beautiful” - a film about a young girl from a completely bourgeois family who, for no apparent reason, decides to engage in prostitution. Ozone then said hello to Buñuel and young Catherine Deneuve from Belle de Jour.

Still from the film “Michael” (2026) A two-hour biopic of Michael Jackson with the simple title “Michael” has been released worldwide. It takes place from 1966 to 1988, showing the rise of the King of Pop to the throne. As you know, in 1987, Michael Jackson purchased the infamous Neverland Ranch, and in 2019, the whole world finally found out what was happening there. But there is none of this in Antoine Fuqua's film.

Interview of Ksenia Sobchak with Anton Krasovsky Source: youtube.com/@sobchak The most discussed video of the week was Anton Krasovsky’s interview with Ksenia Sobchak - sworn friends rode in a paddy wagon rented from the police through snowy Moscow, cosplaying Sorokin’s “Blizzard”. After which the defeated anti-hero caused a surge of sympathy among the emigrated opposition. Zinaida Pronchenko finds an explanation for the compassion of her ruthless colleagues.

Still from the film “Emelianenko” (2023, Valeria Gai Germanika) A documentary film by Valeria Gai Germanika “Emelianenko” is being released in Russia - a portrait of the younger of two famous brothers - MMA fighters, Alexander. The film was shot in 2020, when its hero had several defeats in the ring behind him, as well as a prison sentence for rape.

This article is an April Fool's joke, written jointly by Claude, Gemini and Grok Over the course of these four years, every repatriate inevitably dreamed of the same homage to Spielberg: sticky darkness, the Motherland in the scenery of the transition to Tverskaya, drifting snow reminiscent of cocaine trails at the Kinotavr after-party, and convulsive reflection - how, in fact, to desert back to Sheremetyevo.

Xavier Janolli's film "Rays and Shadows" was released in France - a historical drama about the journalist Jean Lucher, executed in 1946 for collaboration, and his daughter Corinne Lucher, a cinema star during the Occupation, ostracized after the Allied victory. One of the minor characters in the film is Odessa emigrant Leonid Mogilevsky, who made films in France and America under the pseudonym Leo Mogi. His film Operation Arabia became the basis for Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds.