POKLONSKAYA APPEALS TO PROSECUTOR GENERAL AFTER PATRIARCH'S WORDS ABOUT "MATILDA"
For the first time, Patriarch Kirill has spoken out about Aleksei Uchitel's "Matilda." This was the occasion for a public appeal by Deputy Natalia Poklonskaya to Prosecutor General Yury Chaika.
State Duma Deputy Natalia Poklonskaya, an opponent of the film "Matilda" that has still not come to the screen, sent to Prosecutor General Yury Chaika a request to cancel the distribution certificate of the film after Patriarch Kirill's call to "artists" to deal honestly with historical facts. The lawmaker reported this to RBK.
She said that earlier in response to her deputy's inquiry regarding "Matilda" the oversight agency cited the absence of an official position of the Russian Orthodox Church (RPTs) regarding the situation surrounding the film. On 12 October, Patriarch Kirill did not directly mention "Matilda," but a source in the RPTs confirmed for RBK that it was this picture that he was talking about.
The head of the RPTs, speaking at a session of the Supreme Church Council in Moscow, noted that in working with history it is easy to get off into a misleading interpretation, even in petty matters. "But for an honest persons, falsehood and deception are unthinkable. How can this be? Strive to be conscientious in working with facts. Avoid speculation. Especially speculation that is not simply falsified but also able to harm a large number of people, as has happened with the film that has already become notorious even before reaching the screen," he said.
On 10 October, Poklonskaya sent a deputy's inquiry (RBK has it) to Chaika and asked him to ban the public organization "Christian State—Sacred Rus," whose leader, Alexander Kalinin is at present in custody in a case about coercion of owners of film networks to not show the film by director Aleksei Uchitel (according to a report by RIA Novosti, a case about extremism has already been opened against him).
Poklonskaya also asked "to make a representation to the Ministry of Culture demanding to take measures to eliminate violations of the law, eliminating their causes and conditions facilitating them," and cancelling the distribution certificate for "Matilda," which "has provoked the committing of a number of serious crimes and places people's life and health under threat."
On 9 October, opponents of the film turned to Patriarch Kirill and gave him 100,000 appeals from people "offended by the idea of the film." On 12 October they asked President Vladimir Putin to not permit the release of "Matilda."
Earlier, deputies of the State Duma viewed the film and did not find in it scenes that could offend believers' feelings. They concluded that showing the film will evoke public interest in the history of the country. (tr. by PDS, posted 13 October 2017)
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