September 21, 2017, 11:17 / Politics / Photo

Photo. Who and how fought with “Matilda”

Chronicle of attacks on the film by Alexei Uchitel, which made it the most scandalous film Vedomosti

Still from the film / Creative and Production Association "ROK" Alexei Uchitel's film "Matilda" tells about the relationship between the future Emperor Nicholas II and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. The picture caused a wide resonance; State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya actively spoke out against it. The film will be released in wide release only on October 26. We remember how attacks by individual officials made Matilda the most scandalous film
/ Personal archive of Igor Smykov At the beginning of May 2016, the president of the public organization “Orthodox Mission for the Revival of the Spiritual Values of the Russian People” Igor Smykov brought the icon of Nicholas II to Crimea (Natalia Poklonskaya then held the position of regional prosecutor). At the same time, Smykov sent an appeal to the Prosecutor General of Russia with a request to conduct an inspection of the film being prepared for release.
/ National Conservative Movement In July 2016, a petition was posted on Change.org to cancel screenings of Matilda, which by mid-September 2017 had received more than 24,000 signatures. On July 17, the National Conservative Movement and the Union of Orthodox Banner Bearers held a rally (pictured) dedicated to the day of remembrance of the royal martyrs. During the rally, banner bearers burned film posters
Ruslan Shamukov/TASS In November 2016, now State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya (pictured in her office) sent a request to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to check the film for signs of insulting the feelings of believers and inciting racial and ethnic hatred. Earlier, the “Royal Cross” movement addressed the deputy with a complaint, calling the picture “an anti-Russian and anti-religious provocation.” any violations in the film The Prosecutor General's Office did not reveal . In January 2017, Poklonskaya sent a new request to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to conduct an additional check of the script and financing of the film
Sergey Porter / Vedomosti In February 2017, it became known that the director of the film, Alexei Uchitel, appealed to the Prosecutor General’s Office with a request to protect the film’s team from slander by Poklonskaya and threats from extremist-minded individuals. Two months later, Poklonskaya reported that, at her request, an examination of the film “Matilda” was carried out, and the results of the examination were transferred to the prosecutor’s office. Experts concluded that the painting should not be shown publicly
Sergey Fadeichev / TASS Then in April, Alexey Uchitel sent a complaint about Poklonskaya’s actions to the State Duma Ethics Committee. A month later, at the request of a deputy, the police conducted an audit of the financial activities of the St. Petersburg studio “Rock” of Alexei Uchitel
Roman Kulguskin / Twitter In July 2017, at the Spartak - Lokomotiv match, fans hung banners against the film Matilda. At the same time, deputy Poklonskaya sent a request from 37 deputies and 100,000 citizens’ appeals against “Matilda” to the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and again to the Prosecutor General’s Office
Grigory Sysoev / RIA Novosti “I think this is a well-organized advertising campaign. Indeed, they have already dragged the whole country into this showdown,” said director Vladimir Menshov in May, emphasizing that he had a “sharply negative” attitude towards the evaluation of the film before its release (quote from TASS)
/ vk.com/sorok_sorokov On August 1, 2017, prayer stands against the painting “Matilda” were held in Russian cities. The organizer was the Orthodox social movement “Forty Forty”
Ruslan Shamukov / TASS In the same month, the Simferopol prosecutor's office warned cinemas that it was unacceptable to show even the Matilda trailer. Later, the regional prosecutor's office of Crimea lifted the ban on showing the trailer in Simferopol cinemas
Andrey Gordeev / Vedomosti On August 10, 2017, the Ministry of Culture (Minister Vladimir Medinsky in the photo) issued the film a distribution certificate with a rating of 16+
Said Tsarnaev / RIA Novosti True, in the same month, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky received letters from Ramzan Kadyrov (pictured) asking him to cancel the screening of the film in Chechnya. “There will be no ban! Do you know why? Very simple! In Chechnya, they will not waste time watching an immoral, unspiritual and immoral film in relation to their homeland. I am sure that the film will not find an audience in other regions either,” Kadyrov wrote on August 10
Press service of the head of the Republic of Ingushetia, First Deputy Prime Minister of Dagestan Anatoly Karibov asked the Ministry of Culture not to show the film by Alexei Uchitel in Dagestan, and the only film distributor in Ingushetia, the Druzhba cinema, refused to show Matilda. In September, the management of the Mir and Vershina cinema chains in Surgut received recommendations from the Department of Culture of the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug not to show the film Matilda, Interfax reported.
/ “Night News” Early in the morning of September 4, 2017, a UAZ driven by Denis Murashov drove into the Cosmos cinema and concert hall in Yekaterinburg, where the screening of “Matilda” was supposed to take place, and he also set the car on fire. The Cosmos lobby was completely burned out. Later, the media reported that Denis Murashov was registered as a psychiatric patient. The day before, on the night of August 31, unknown persons threw Molotov cocktails at the building of Alexei Uchitel’s studio in St. Petersburg. Later, the mayor of Yekaterinburg, Evgeny Roizman, linked the arson of the Cosmos cinema and concert hall with whipping up hysteria around the film Matilda, although the film was not scheduled to be shown on that day
Still from the film / Creative and Production Association “ROK” On September 8, 2017, municipal cinemas in the Kemerovo region refused to show the film directed by Alexei Uchitel. And on September 11, 2017, it became known that two Muscovites complained to the FAS about the film’s advertising campaign. They believe that the law on advertising and competition protection was violated
Mikhail Pochuev / TASS On the night of September 11, unknown persons set fire to two cars near the office of lawyer Alexei Uchitel and scattered leaflets with the slogan “Burn for Matilda.” “This is already the fourth episode of violent actions from supporters of Poklonskaya and opposition to Matilda. As part of these actions, law enforcement [agencies], I believe, will personally ask MP Poklonskaya unpleasant questions,” said lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin
Yuri Smityuk / TASS On September 11, 2017, residents of Vladivostok were the first to watch “Matilda” at the pre-premiere screening at the Illusion cinema. with posters appeared on the streets of the city And on September 21, shuttle buses , calling to prevent the rental of Alexei Uchitel’s film “Matilda”
Roman Pimenov / Interpress / TASS On September 12, 2017, the largest chain of cinemas in Russia, Cinema Park and Formula Kino (united into a single chain), refused to show Matilda due to the increasing number of threats against cinemas in different cities of Russia
Maxim Stulov / Vedomosti There is nothing offensive in the film “Matilda” to the memory of Nicholas II and the Russian monarchy, Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky said on September 13. “I am often reproached for being too conservatistic. And as a conservative, I want to say: such self-proclaimed “activists” discredit both state cultural policy and the church. Orthodoxy is about love, not hatred,” Medinsky said in a statement published on the ministry’s website.
/ TASS On September 14, the TASS agency published on Facebook a photo from a meeting between director Alexei Uchitel and State Duma deputy Natalia Poklonskaya. The agency did not specify when and where the photograph was taken. On August 24, the Teacher spoke about the “historic” meeting with Poklonskaya. He mentioned it at the presentation of the festival “We will live!”
Anna Omelchenko / Photobank Lori The Salyut cinema in Yekaterinburg sold 10% of tickets on the first day of pre-sales of tickets for Matilda, the cinema administration reported on September 15. “This is the first time we have started selling tickets so far in advance of the film's screening. For other films, about 1% of tickets are sold on the first day of sales. Sales of Matilda are still breaking all records,” noted Interfax’s interlocutor. The official premiere is scheduled for October 26
Sergey Porter / Vedomosti “I haven’t seen the film “Matilda”, I think there is a lot of speculation here. This issue must be resolved from the very beginning, the Cinema Fund must understand what it is doing by allocating money... The Ministry of Culture did not give a penny for this film, this is decided by the Cinema Fund,” said director Nikita Mikhalkov on September 16. In his opinion, any author should understand what risks he is taking when creating a film about a canonized saint.
Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia / TASS On September 20, several people were taken to the police, including the leader of the organization “Christian State - Holy Russia” Alexander Kalinin (pictured). The detention occurred in connection with a criminal case of arson of cars near the office of Teacher’s lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin, a law enforcement source told Interfax
Igor Zarembo / RIA Novosti On September 27, the widow of Nicholas II’s nephew Olga Kulikovskaya-Romanova filed an appeal to Prosecutor General Yuri Chaika and Minister of Culture Vladimir Medinsky with a claim of violation of her copyright in the film “Matilda” by director Alexei Uchitel. this on her page on the social network Facebook. reported State Duma deputy Natalya Poklonskaya
Still from the film / Creative and Production Association "ROK" Officially, "Matilda" will be released in Russia on October 26, the premiere will take place on October 23 at the Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg and on October 24 in Moscow at the Oktyabr cinema.

Photo. Who and how fought with “Matilda”

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