Ilya Khrzhanovsky defended DAU’s Venice Film Festival competition slot amid objections from Ukrainian officials, saying he wants Ukraine’s government to “save the country and to win this war.” This account is based on reporting by Variety.
Khrzhanovsky also rejected claims that the project has Russian state links. He said Russian oligarch Sergei Adoniev was DAU’s first financier, backing it from 2008 through 2019, and said its financing has changed over the past seven years.
The 3-hour-and-15-minute film follows Soviet physicist Lev Landau from 1928 to 1968 and draws on a two-decade project spanning film, television and art. Earlier project films include DAU. Degeneration (2019) and DAU. Natasha (2020).
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry, Culture Ministry and Embassy in Italy had criticized Venice for hosting a project they said was linked to Russian state networks. Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera previously defended the selection, calling Khrzhanovsky an anti-invasion dissident. The report does not independently establish whether the project has Russian state links.
The historical parallel
The dispute recalls Munich Philharmonic’s 2022 termination of Valery Gergiev after he did not distance himself from Russia’s invasion or Vladimir Putin, as The Guardian reported. A planned Gergiev concert in Caserta was later cancelled following protests, according to AP.
The comparison has firm limits: Gergiev’s case involved documented personal alignment and live institutional roles. Khrzhanovsky has stated support for Ukraine, while the Venice dispute concerns contested project links and historic financing.
Impact assessment
Venice now has a more specific basis for retaining DAU: the director’s public anti-war position and his account of Adoniev’s 2008-19 role. But the festival remains exposed to criticism unless the financing questions are more fully addressed.
For Ukrainian cultural officials, Khrzhanovsky’s response shifts the argument toward evidence about the project’s funding and links. For distributors and future exhibitors, the controversy could make bookings more sensitive to protest and reputational risk over the coming weeks, particularly if new evidence emerges.
Scenarios
Our outlook (informed speculation)
Most likely: If no substantiated evidence of current state-linked financing emerges, Venice keeps DAU in competition in the coming days and weeks. The director’s statement gives organizers grounds to maintain the selection, while objections continue to focus on the project’s financing history.
Upside: If the historical-financing explanation remains unchallenged and no new material links are established, exhibitors may distinguish Khrzhanovsky’s stated position from the project’s earlier funding. That could reduce programming pressure and return attention to the film’s festival run.
Downside: If sustained objections or stronger documentation of state-linked influence emerges, other cultural institutions may reconsider screenings or require public explanations for hosting the work over the coming weeks to 12 months. The causal shift would be from a Venice-specific dispute to a wider programming-risk calculation.
What to watch next
Venice’s published competition status for DAU will show whether the festival’s position changes. Also significant: verifiable details about post-2019 financing, and whether Ukrainian officials respond to Khrzhanovsky’s statement by maintaining, refining or softening their objection.
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