Film festival defends screening of Ukraine war documentary branded Russian propaganda

The organisers of a popular film festival are pushing ahead with plans to screen a controversial documentary on the lives of Russian soldiers fighting in the war in Ukraine despite opponents branding it a “tool of Russian propaganda”.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, and leaders from the Ukrainian-Australian community wrote to the chair of the board of the Antenna Documentary Film Festival, Kirk Marcolina, last week urging him to cancel the planned screenings of the film Russians at War.

In the fly-on-the-wall-style documentary, scheduled to screen in Sydney on February 10 and 14, Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova chronicles the seven months she spent embedded with a Russian army battalion in eastern Ukraine in 2023.

Myroshnychenko told Marcolina he was “deeply concerned” that the film was included in the festival program, warning it would be “deeply harmful and distressing” to the Ukrainian-Australian community.

“Rather than presenting a balanced or objective view, Russians at War equates the aggressor with the victim, ultimately serving as a tool of Russian propaganda,” Myroshnychenko said in his January 24 letter.

“This film distorts the reality of the situation, manipulating public perception in a way that undermines Ukraine’s sovereignty and the immense human cost of this war ... It also risks providing a platform for Russia to further legitimise its unlawful actions in Ukraine.”

In his response, Marcolina said he “cannot withdraw a film solely because it is controversial”, adding that “there is no clear and verifiable evidence of deception or misinformation”.

He invited representatives of the Ukrainian community to participate in a discussion after the screening to ensure their perspective was heard.

Russians at War debuted at last year’s Venice International Film Festival and later screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it aroused significant debate.

The film shows Russian troops drinking heavily, complaining about their ancient Soviet-era equipment, and sometimes questioning the point of the war. Other soldiers claim they are fighting Nazis and blame Ukraine for Russia’s decision to invade Ukraine’s Donbas region in 2014.

In a statement posted on the festival’s website, Marcolina and festival director Dudi Rokach said the decision to screen the film “was not made lightly”.

“Aware of the controversy it has generated globally, we engaged in extensive discussions about the film’s content and the complexities it presents,” Marcolina and Rokach said.

“By portraying the experiences and voices of Russian soldiers, the film sheds light on the internal contradictions, disillusionment, and sense of purposelessness within the ranks of the aggressor.

“We feel it serves as an existential critique of war, exposing the mechanisms that sustain it and ultimately underscoring the urgency of ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

They added: “We trust in the intelligence and openness of our audience, believing that documentary can be a catalyst for social change by encouraging engagement with uncomfortable narratives.”

In a statement provided by festival organisers, Trofimova defended her documentary as an “anti-war film made at great risk to all involved, myself especially”.

“I unequivocally believe that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is unjustified, illegal and acknowledge the validity of the International Criminal Court investigation of war crimes in Ukraine,” Trofimova said.

“The suggestion that our film is propaganda is ludicrous given that I’m now at risk of criminal prosecution in Russia.”

Trofimova previously worked in Syria, Congo and Iraq, with much of her work appearing on the state-owned Russia Today network.

A still from the trailer for Russians at War.

ABC chair Kim Williams, a major donor to the festival, said he had not seen the film but added: “I am a believer in the power of great documentary as one of the most vital creative forces in all filmmaking.”

In a separate letter to festival organisers, Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations co-chair Kateryna Argyrou criticised the movie for humanising Russian soldiers while not mentioning Russian war crimes or criticising President Vladimir Putin’s regime.

Calling for all screenings of the film to be cancelled, Argyrou said the “movie presents not the ‘truth’ but a propaganda narrative which empathises with Russian soldiers, and seeks to absolve them of any crimes they, or their army, have committed”.

Olga Boichak, a senior lecturer in digital cultures at the University of Sydney, said: “By humanising the ‘ordinary’ Russian soldiers, the film deliberately obscures the systemic nature of wartime violence against Ukrainian civilians perpetrated by those very soldiers.

“Viewers unfamiliar with this context risk falling for a logical fallacy called ‘bothsidesism’, thinking it is impossible to know the truth amidst narratives that directly contradict each other.”

Canada’s Globe and Mail, however, last year defended it as an “exceptional documentary” that “in no way glorifies Russia or its army or its war effort”.

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