Woody Allen has denied claims that his participation in a Moscow film festival was “whitewashing” Russian atrocities, after condemnation of his appearance by Ukraine’s ministry of foreign affairs.
Allen said in a statement to the Guardian: “When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, I believe strongly that Vladimir Putin is totally in the wrong. The war he has caused is appalling. But, whatever politicians have done, I don’t feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help.”
Allen had appeared on Sunday at Moscow international film week, via a remote link for a session hosted by film-maker Fyodor Bondarchuk, a long-term political ally of Putin and director of patriotic epics such as Stalingrad (2013) and the sci-fi film Attraction.
In a statement posted on social media, the ministry said: “Woody Allen’s participation in the Moscow international film week is a disgrace and an insult to the sacrifice of Ukrainian actors and film-makers who have been killed or injured by Russian war criminals in their ongoing war against Ukraine.”
It added: “By taking part in a festival that brings together Putin’s supporters and voices, Allen chooses to turn a blind eye to the atrocities Russia commits in Ukraine every single day for 11 years now. Culture must never be used to whitewash crimes or serve as a propaganda tool. We strongly condemn Woody Allen’s decision to bless Moscow’s bloody festival with his address.”
According to reports in Russian media, Allen said that he had no plans to make a film in Russia but that he had “only good feelings for Moscow and St Petersburg”.
Allen also reportedly said he admired Russian cinema, singling out the four-film literary adaptation War and Peace, directed by Bondarchuk’s father Sergei, which won the Oscar for best foreign language film in 1969.
Allen’s last two films have been made with financial backing from European sources: Rifkin’s Festival in Spain, released in 2020, and Coup de Chance in France, released in 2023. This followed the cancellation of his production arrangement with Amazon in 2019; Allen sued Amazon and settled out of court. His legal dispute with Amazon followed an open letter published by Dylan Farrow in 2014 renewing the allegations that Allen had sexually abused her when she was seven, which Allen denies and of which he has been cleared after two investigations.
In 2024, Allen suggested he may retire, saying: “All the romance of film-making is gone.”
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