Russians "appropriated" iconic movie for Ukraine at festival dedicated to Navalny. Embassy of Ukraine in France reacts

The Ukrainian Embassy in France reported.

The so-called Festival of Russian Film, organized by the Other Russia association, included Serhii Parajanov's Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors in its program. This is the 10th such event, and this year it was dedicated to the memory of Alexei Navalny.

"We believe that even in these turbulent times, despite the violence of the current government, it is necessary to continue to protect and promote Russian culture, in particular in the field of cinema," the festival organizers say in their invitation text.

They call for "discovering and rediscovering the best of Russian cinema, past and present."

The Ukrainian Embassy is outraged that Russians have appropriated Ukrainian cinematic heritage and has appealed to the competent authorities, including the French Ministry of Culture, to investigate the situation.

"Culture continues to be cynically used to legitimize Russian aggression. It is known that for years this Russian film festival has relied on the support of the Russian government. Obviously, despite the supposed formal change in emphasis by the organizers, their methods remain largely unchanged," the diplomatic institution noted.

Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors is a film by the Armenian-born director of Sacartevelo, Serhii Parajanov, based on the 1911 novel by the Ukrainian writer Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi. The film depicts the life of the Hutsuls, one of Ukraine's ethnic groups, who live in the Ukrainian Carpathians. 

• Earlier, one of the world's leading art museums, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, recognized artists Arkhyp Kuindzhi, Illia Ripin, and Ivan Aivazovskyi as  Ukrainian artists.