In Europe and the West, such a ruling would be immediately met with protests and mass demonstrations, as in the Charlie Hebdo demonstrations. But in Russia, it is seen by many as another nail being driven into the coffin of free speech, and the people’s rights to make their own decisions on what they want to read or view on movie screens or television.
The latest regulations banning certain films from being shown within Russia was supposed to take effect on January 1, but has been held up while the Culture Ministry assesses reviews and comments regarding the law.
Drafted in November of 2014, the regulations stipulate a film will be denied a distribution license, effectively banning it in Russian movie theaters and television screens if it, “contains content defiling the national culture, posing a threat to national unity and undermining the foundations of the constitutional order,” according to the Moscow Times, citing Interfax.
Critics are angry over the new rules. “Who is going to decide that the culture has been besmeared? The ministry? The public? A court? And on the basis of what?” director Andrei Proshkin told Interfax, as reported in the Guardian. “How do you determine legally that the culture has been besmeared? And what can besmear a culture more in the 21st century than such laws?”
This new law, if it is enacted, follows a law passed in 2014 banning profanity in films, television broadcasts, theaters, and the media. Books containing swear words must have a warning on the front cover. If disputes arise over what constitutes swearing, a panel of “experts” will make the final determination.
Of course, a clause in the law, which went into effect on July 1, 2014, states this does not apply to swearing in performances in the state theater. Interestingly, sociologist’s research shows that swearing is very common in over two-thirds of Russia’s companies, according to Russia’s Vesti News, now called Russia 24.
The change to a law that harkens back to the Soviet era of tighter control over what the Russian people were allowed to see or read could also affect the distribution of the Cultural Ministry’s pride and joy, Andrei Zvyagintsev’s film “Leviathan,” supposedly opening in Russian theaters in early February.
“Leviathan” was nominated by the Russian film board to be the country’s entry for the foreign-language Oscar. This was done despite the film not promoting national unity. The film has already won a Golden Globe Award in the best foreign film category and is also a contender for an Academy Award in the same category.
The film’s director, Andrei Zvyagintsev was interviewed by Shaun Walker, with the Guardian in November, 2014. Besides talking about the film and his reaction to the new regulations soon to be enacted, Zvyagintsev also cited something he remembered the Cultural Minister, Vladimir Medinsky, saying: “He said: ‘Let all the flowers grow, but we will only water the ones we like.”
“After these words he should have been fired,” said Zvyagintsev, “because this is a direct violation of the constitution, a direct violation of human expression. You cannot impose rules on art. Everybody should be equal. Government help, without which art cannot function, should be equally spread between all participants.”
The term “national unity” may be nothing more than a 21st century expression meaning ” anti-Soviet propaganda.” And it leaves people wondering, how far a government will go to shield the masses from what is going on in the world. It looks like the only thing Moscow cannot suppress, is what goes on in people’s minds. But even that is in question.
Today’s world can be much more complicated than it was during the Soviet era. Global discussion and the transmission of information, via the Internet, is almost impossible to stop, even in a country where access is denied. So the big question may be: What is the Russian leader trying to accomplish?
