August 26, 2025 - 7:15pm
Woody Allen is drawing heat for participating in a Russian film festival. The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued an official statement of condemnation, and social media users are offering the predictable “paedophile, move to Moscow!” commentary. The flap raises the question of whether Americans are allowed to have any positive interactions with Russian people or culture — and the answer appears to be certainly not.
On Sunday, Allen joined the Moscow International Film Festival via video link, and was the only American star to participate. The Ukrainian statement in response called the film director’s decision “a disgrace and an insult to the sacrifice of Ukrainian actors and filmmakers who have been killed or injured by Russian war criminals”. The ministry claimed that “by taking part in a festival that brings together Putin’s supporters and voices, Allen chooses to turn a blind eye to the atrocities Russia commits in Ukraine every single day for 11 years now.”
Cancel culture, apparently, is alive and well in Ukraine. Allen, in a statement to the Guardian, defended his actions on the grounds of artistic freedom and the international community of the arts. “When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, I believe strongly that Vladimir Putin is totally in the wrong. The war he has caused is appalling. But, whatever politicians have done, I don’t feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help,” Allen said.
The wholesale global shunning of all things Russian has been a trend since the war in Ukraine began. Russian conductors, sopranos, theater companies, painters, and other artists saw their professional relationships terminated and performances canceled across the United States and Europe. Some of the canceled artists could be credibly linked to the Russian regime due to their high-profile positions in important institutions, yet prominence in public life doesn’t necessarily translate to support for Putin’s war.
It’s a somewhat bitter irony that proponents of such cancellations can’t see their own totalitarian logic. The Ukrainian foreign ministry believes it can dictate what Allen’s participation in the festival means — i.e., that the director turns a “blind eye” to atrocities — despite his vociferous statements to the contrary. These are strongman tactics, and are fundamentally in opposition to the spirit of art. Russian artists are familiar with such things, and have a long heritage of working in opposition to the ruling authoritarian ideology. Anna Akhmatova, Nadezhda and Osip Mandelstam, Sergei Dovlatov, Venedikt Yerofeev, Boris Pasternak, and Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn are just a few examples. Conformists in America and Europe might take a cue from them, and consider whether their own art is made in support of or in opposition to the status quo.
Allen, for better or for worse, is so canceled as to now be uncancellable. As one of the few American artists who can say what he wants in defense of artistic freedom, he really has nothing left to lose. It’s therefore noteworthy that he chose to attend. There are only two other Americans listed on the festival roster, neither with wide name recognition. From Europe, a single participant dared — a Serb. Most of the artists were Russians, with a few from India, China, and the United Arab Emirates.
Any artistic gathering that is so obviously dangerous and forbidden ought to be of interest to true patrons of the arts. Contrary to the predictable outrage in a world where everything is black and white, Allen has not condoned Russia’s war crimes. Rather, he has engaged with artists in a strong rebuke to the idea that politics and war must ultimately separate humans and constrain creativity.
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