Alexey Uchitel left the Russian Oscar Committee

The scandal within the Russian Oscar committee occurred in September of this year. Officials of the Russian Film Academy refused to nominate a domestic film for the Oscar without any explanation.

This happened despite the fact that directors Alexey Uchitel and Andrey Konchalovsky insisted on the need to nominate a Russian film for the Academy Award. They were objected to by the chairman of the Union of Cinematographers Nikita Mikhalkov. He is convinced that in the current geopolitical conditions, nominating any Russian film for an Oscar does not make sense.

“It is strange that the Presidium of the Film Academy did not respond to my request to get together and work out a common position. Or at least explain your decision. Therefore, I am also forced to withdraw from the committee”, - Kommersant quotes Alexey Uchitel as saying.

Director Pavel Chukhrai, chairman of the Russian Oscar Committee, disagreed with the decision of officials of the Russian Film Academy.

Chukhrai sent a letter to the members of the Russian Oscar Committee, indicating that the Film Academy refused to nominate the film unilaterally, "over the head of the Oscar committee". Chukhrai considered these steps unlawful. He is surprised that he was neither consulted nor informed about the situation.

In protest against what is happening, Chukhrai resigned his post. He was followed by Nikolay Dostal, Andrey Zvyagintsev, Vladimir Kott, Sergey Bodrov Sr. and Vera Storozheva.

In 2021, the painting Unclenching Fists by Kira Kovalenko was nominated, but it was not included in the shortlist for the award. But the short list of the award included Anton Dyakov's cartoon "Boxballet". However, the animated film did not win the award.