The Ministry of Culture will not cancel the Law on Mate

The Ministry of Culture will allow you to show films with obscene vocabulary at all Russian festivals, but the ban on the mat in the film distribution is not going to cancel.

“Sitting any norms of the so-called MATA Law, with the exception of the amendments that release Russian films from the mandatory receipt of rental certificates when demonstrating at film festivals within Russia (are in agreement with specialized departments), is not planned in the near future,” the Izvestia press service quoted.

The law “On State Support for Cinematography”, currently on July 1 of last year, prohibits the issuance of rental certificates for films with obscene vocabulary and a public show of films without a rolling certificate, with the exception of international festivals held in Russia.

In January, Fedor Bondarchuk, Nikita Mikhalkov, Karen Shakhnazarov, Sergey Miroshnichenko, Oleg Tabakov and Vladimir Khotinenko wrote a letter to Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev with a request to allow the use of obscene vocabulary in films.

Medvedev instructed the Ministry of Culture to work out this issue, the State Duma opposed the changes, the director of Mosfilm Shakhnazarov withdrew his signature under the letter, explaining this by the fact that, in his opinion, “good films can be shot without obscene vocabulary”.

The head of the Ministry of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said that his ministry will study the practice of applying the law on the ban on obscene vocabulary and offer amendments to it. At the same time, the minister said that “the return of the mat to television, the theater, literature, and the movie of a wide show ... is completely unacceptable”, although “reasonable exceptions” can be made for festival cinema.

In March, the Ministry of Culture developed amendments to the Law “On State Support for Cinematography”, releasing festival films from the need to receive rental certificates. The bill introduces the legal concept of the film festival-with the aim of delimiting rental, where the mat will still be prohibited, and festival film screenings.