Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera responds to backlash over selection of Russian director Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s ‘DAU’

Alberto Barbera, the director of the Venice Film Festival, defended the inclusion of Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky’s feature DAU following sustained criticism from activists and Ukrainian officials, who argued that platforming the work risked legitimizing Kremlin-aligned messaging. Barbera posted his response in a lengthy Instagram message on Wednesday, addressing what he described as misunderstandings about the project and its intent.

In the message, Barbera framed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as “bloody and cruel,” an opening he used to acknowledge the severity of the war before addressing the specific complaints about DAU. He said he was responding directly to claims that the film amounts to pro-Putin propaganda, and he rejected that characterization.

According to Deadline, Barbera argued that the work should be understood in terms of the artistic and documentary material it presents rather than as an endorsement of Putin or Russian state narratives. The festival director said the selection was not intended to function as political messaging in support of the Kremlin, and he maintained that critics were reading the project incorrectly.

Deadline reported that the backlash had grown over multiple weeks, with activists and Ukrainian officials pressing Venice to reconsider presenting Khrzhanovsky’s work. The criticism centered on the director’s nationality and on concerns that the film’s subject matter could be interpreted as aligning with Russia’s political objectives, despite the festival’s position that the screening reflects a broader cultural debate around art and representation.

Barbera’s Wednesday statement did not report a change to the festival’s decision, and the response suggests Venice remains committed to its programming choices even as political scrutiny intensifies around Russian-linked artists during the ongoing war in Ukraine. The controversy underscores how major international festivals are navigating rules of artistic selection at a time when public institutions face pressure to respond to geopolitical conflicts.

As of Wednesday’s posting, Barbera’s defense is the festival’s most direct reply to the complaints, and it sets the terms for the next phase of public debate leading up to any screenings tied to the DAU selection. Additional responses from the activists and Ukrainian officials who criticized the selection were not reflected in Deadline’s report.