Russian Director Defends WWII Film “Air” and State Funding, Calls for More East-West Dialogue
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Russian director Aleksey German Jr. defends his WWII film "Air" and its state funding, saying 80% of Russian films receive state money and he had no censorship.
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German Jr. calls banning Russian films and filmmakers from festivals "absolutely stupid" as "culture must support dialogue."
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German Jr. says he considers the war in Ukraine a "tragedy" caused by a lack of East-West dialogue over 10 years.
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The film focuses on the Soviet side's "enormous price" in WWII with 27-35 million deaths, depicted through female Soviet pilots, many of whom died.
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Technologically innovative, the film uses CGI, plane models, sports planes for aerial shots, and a mechanism to lift planes and actors 10-12 meters to simulate air battles.