Head of the Russian Ministry of Culture Olga Lyubimova said that the distribution certificate of Yakut director Stepan Burnashev’s film “Aita” was canceled due to the criticism the ministry received from the audience.
“The film caused very mixed reactions. We know how sensitive they are to any mention of the topic – inter-ethnic hatred in our society, how constantly this issue is discussed…” – Lyubimova noted, responding to a deputy’s request for comment during the government hour in the State Duma: “Aita” Cancellation of the film’s distribution certificate.
“When the film was released on the online platform, it also caused very strong negative reactions on social networks…” he added.
According to the minister, the director met with Burnashev and both decided to “continue trying to make such issues more subtle.”
The film tells the story of how hunting inspector Ayaala Aita’s daughter tried to commit suicide after a classmate’s party. Her mother finds a note in her pocket: “Afonya, I hate you!” Afonya is a Russian police officer who drops Aita home. At the hospital, Aita dies and her family learns that she is pregnant. Later, his father decides to organize a lynching with the village residents.
The disappearance of “Aita”
“Aita” happened The highest-grossing Ruby film in history. Box office revenues amounted to 26.1 million rubles with a budget of 4 million rubles. To the surprise of many, the film disappeared from the libraries of Russian online cinemas six months after its premiere at the request of Roskomnadzor. The service found “subversive information that contradicts the principles of the unity of the peoples of Russia” in the tape. In October, the Ministry of Culture canceled Aita’s lease.
“The film shows the inequality of individuals on the basis of nationality: the positive aspects of heroes from one nation contrast with the decidedly negative characteristics of heroes from another nation.” explained The meeting of RKN representatives with the Vedomosti newspaper is prohibited.
Burnashev responded by revealing the opposite message.
“The story is exactly that dividing people into “us” and “strangers” can lead to tragedy. In any situation, even tragic, you need to be able to find the strength to conduct a dialogue to get to the essence of the truth and not indiscriminately blame a person just because he is a representative of another culture. “With my film, I wanted to show what the division of peoples can lead to,” the director explained.
The president of Yakutia, Aisen Nikolaev, stood up for the film “Aita” in the fall of 2023. He stated that Burnashev does not support nationalism.
“You just need to focus a little more, understand where they can get caught, what mistakes they can make, and do everything to avoid making them and move forward. <...> “Your mother republic is always with you, we are not abandoning you, it is our own republic, we will support you,” said the regional head Saha during the “Live” program on NVK.
After the ban on distribution, Burnashev hoped that the situation with the ban on the film “Aita” would soon become clear. “What was banned was rather a mistake and this will be corrected in time and the film will return. “At least that’s what I believe,” said the director.
Burnashev noted that he does not plan to leave Russia and will continue to shoot his films here.
regional cinema
Previously Lyubimova statedRussians Moscow and St. Interest in films about life in St. Petersburg began to fade away, now new cities and regions appear on the screens. “It is very important for us to come up with projects in which the main characters do not only live on Novy Arbat, do not fight only on Tverskaya, do not say goodbye only at the Novodevichy Cemetery,” the minister said.
According to him, ethnic cinema and especially Yakut films attract special attention from Russians. Lyubimova assured that the government will support such films if they reflect real events taking place in the region.
Yakut cinema exceeded its historical record and collected 80 million rubles in the first nine months of 2023, reported TASS.
“The Child’s Promise”
On November 9, the eight-episode series The Boy’s Word was released on online platforms. “Blood on the Asphalt” starring Ivan Yankovsky. Director: Zhora Kryzhovnikov. The film tells about groups in Kazan in the late 1980s.
TV channel “Tatarstan-24” reportedHe said local schoolchildren were inspired by the series’ script and created Telegram channels where they posted videos of “arrows” and maps of “divided areas”. The most active chat participants were even summoned to the police for questioning.
Tatarstan Children’s Rights Commissioner Irina Volynets appealed To Roskomnadzor with a request to check the compliance of the series with traditional moral values. He described the series as a “romanticization of gangsterism” and said that the series “creates false ideas about the criminal world”.
Volynets said in the call: “Today we are witnessing how children begin to imitate the heroes of the film; information about these events taking place these days can easily be found on the Internet.”
Safer Internet League President Ekaterina Mizulina stated At a meeting with students in Pskov, it was said that “The Boy’s Word” should be watched carefully.
According to him, many people who contact him find the series “educational” rather than harmful.
“The parent community criticizes young people, says they are all hooligans. But I see something else; energetic, intelligent, active people who want to develop,” Mizulina concluded.
Source: Gazeta

Brandon Hall is an author at “Social Bites”. He is a cultural aficionado who writes about the latest news and developments in the world of art, literature, music, and more. With a passion for the arts and a deep understanding of cultural trends, Brandon provides engaging and thought-provoking articles that keep his readers informed and up-to-date on the latest happenings in the cultural world.