Sydney film festival faces backlash over screening of propaganda documentary humanizing Russian war criminals

The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organizations (AFUO) stated that screening the Russian propaganda documentary Russians at War at the Antenna Documentary Film Festival is a matter of artistic freedom but moral responsibility, according to the organization's statement. The film sparked controversy for humanizing Russian soldiers without showcasing the destruction and their war crimes. It also portrays the war as a struggle between “brotherly nations” and depicts Russian soldiers sympathetically. In 2024, Ukraine added Russian-Canadian filmmaker Anastasia Trofimova, a former employee of the Russian state-run channel Russia Today, to its list of individuals deemed a threat to national security. The AFUO expressed deep disappointment and frustration over the decision of the Antenna Documentary Film Festival in Sydney to proceed with the screening of the propaganda film Russians at War, despite strong appeals from the Ukrainian-Australian community and Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia to withdraw it. The Antenna Documentary Film Festival, founded in 2011, will be held in Sydney from 7 to 16 February. A significant part of the film was shot in occupied Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, where director Trofimova traveled from Moscow without Ukraine’s permission. Her stated goal was to show the world that Russian soldiers are not the "monsters" portrayed by Ukrainian and Western media but rather "ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances." The AFUO emphasized in its statement that Russia’s war against Ukraine is a "brutal war of occupation, devastating our cities, schools, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure."

"Ukrainian authorities are currently investigating close to 140,000 registered war crimes, including summary executions, torture, sexual violence, and the forced deportation of children," said Kateryna Argyrou, co-chair of the organization.

She said that the film seeks to humanize soldiers who are army members committing these crimes, portraying them as weary, playful, dancing, laughing, and even romancing their girlfriends.

"What it fails to mention is these soldiers are not innocent victims – they are contracted soldiers, who are paid three times the average russian wage, and who have freely signed up to join an invading army," Argyrou claimed.

The movie also fails to acknowledge that Russia invaded a sovereign nation in violation of international law and does not mention war crimes or criticize the Putin regime.

"Without this context, audience members are encouraged to feel sympathy for russian soldiers as just ‘regular people,’ instead of recognising them as active participants in a genocidal war," she stressed.

The AFUO urged the festival to reconsider its decision to screen the film and called on all government bodies, festival sponsors, and the Australian community to oppose the whitewashing of Russia's war crimes and demand the cancellation of all screenings of Russians at War.

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