Editor

By the Board's and the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Film Academy decision, Serhiy Loznytsa was excluded from the Ukrainian Film Academy.

On February 24, Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine. Ukraine is defending itself on all fronts, including the cultural one. The countries of Europe and the whole world should have a complete and unambiguous picture of what the aggressor country is doing in Ukraine. Therefore, every Ukrainian is now the ambassador of his country.

A special responsibility now lies with creative industries specialists well known abroad. Their position must be clear and unambiguous.

Director Serhiy Loznytsa has repeatedly stressed that he considers himself a cosmopolitan, "a man of the world". However, now, when Ukraine is struggling to defend its independence, the key concept in the rhetoric of every Ukrainian should be his national identity. There can be no compromises or halftones here.

In addition, Serhiy Loznytsa's films have recently been included in the program of the Russian film festival in the French city of Nantes called "From Lviv to the Urals." During the bloody full-scale war that Russia unleashed, this is entirely unacceptable.

The Ukrainian Film Academy has already called on the world film community to boycott Russian cinema. We constantly call on the whole world to distinguish between Ukrainian and Russian cultures and not to identify them. All members of the Ukrainian Film Academy must share this position and call a spade a spade, showing clarity and rigidity in their convictions.

We appeal to the world community with a request not to position Serhiy Loznytsa as a representative of the Ukrainian cultural sphere.