An emergency decree by the Court of Venice, obtained by the companies Viva Film (Russia), Avantura Film (Croatia), and Pygmalion (Cyprus) over a copyright dispute regarding the film’s script, has prompted us, for now, in agreement with the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia, to suspend the press & industry screening scheduled for tomorrow, August 28th
Last June, Giornate degli Autori selected for its competition Antikvariati, the second film by the filmmaker Rusudan Glurjidze, presented by the Georgian majority producer Cinetech through the international sales company MPM Premium co-founded by Marie-Pierre Macia. The film was duly included in the program of Giornate degli Autori, part of the 81st International Venice Film Festival (with screenings scheduled for August 28th, August 30th, and September 6th). However, an emergency decree by the Court of Venice, obtained by the companies Viva Film (Russia), Avantura Film (Croatia), and Pygmalion (Cyprus) over a copyright dispute regarding the film’s script, has prompted us, for now, in agreement with the Fondazione La Biennale di Venezia, to suspend the press & industry screening scheduled for tomorrow, August 28th, although the above-mentioned court order does not bar the screening of the film.
We believe, in the very spirit of Giornate degli Autori, that our chief duty, shared with the Italian filmmakers’ associations that promote our showcase, is the defense of copyright, hence the defense of the filmmaker Rusudan Glurjidze, present in Venice. We also feel that the decision of the judge at the Court of Venice must be taken into serious consideration, pending further developments.
That said, we will do whatever is in our power, in observance of the law as well as the freedom of expression of the filmmaker, to support the existence of the work itself and its visibility in Venice over the coming days. The film recounts the tragic measures taken again the Georgian people in 2006 and the rights of Rusudan Glurjidze, who previously declared in her own director’s note, “The story is set in modern-day St. Petersburg during the illegal mass expulsions of Georgian migrants from Russia. It was inspired by real events that caused great distress to my country and me personally. This cruel deportation campaign was aimed exclusively at Georgian citizens. It was the result of an abrupt worsening of already strained political relations between the two countries. In the first few days, 2,680 Georgians were expelled.”
