Histoire officielle

Aleksei Uchitel, a film director who signed an appeal in 2014 supporting the annexation of Crimea, is now in trouble over his new film, “Matilda.” Putin loyalists in Parliament and some regional leaders, including Ramzan Kadyrov, are calling for the film to be banned because it depicts a love affair between Czar Nicholas II and the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya. The church considers the czar to be a saint, and a saint shouldn’t be portrayed as having affairs. Until now, Russian directors, actors and writers have not understood that as the authoritarian system continues to tighten its grip, they will face a choice: either become dissidents or agree to work under the regime’s direct control.

"Portrait of the Artist in Putin’s Russia"
The New York Times, 14/09/17