Oscar-winning director Woody Allen has defended his participation in a Moscow film festival after facing sharp criticism from the Ukrainian government.
“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,” Allen said in a statement sent to CNN by his assistant on Monday August 25, 2025 (Tuesday AEST).
“But, whatever politicians have done, I don’t feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help.”
His comments followed condemnation from Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which denounced Allen’s role as a headline guest at the festival over the weekend.
“Woody Allen’s participation in the Moscow International Film Week is a disgrace and an insult to the sacrifice of Ukrainian actors and filmmakers who have been killed or injured by Russian war criminals in their ongoing war against Ukraine,” the ministry said in a statement on August 25, 2025.
The Moscow International Film Week is sponsored by Russian state media, state-owned companies and the Moscow City Government.
An image shared on the festival’s official Telegram channel shows the 89-year-old filmmaker joining via video link in a conversation with Russian director Fyodor Bondarchuk, a Putin ally who has openly supported Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
According to the festival’s press service, Allen mentioned he liked Russian cinema, praising Sergei Bondarchuk’s Soviet adaptation of War and Peace, directed by Fyodor Bondarchuk’s father.
Russian state media also reported Allen as saying that, while he has no plans to make a movie in Russia, he has “only good feelings for Moscow and St Petersburg.”
Images: Instagram
