Oscar denied Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy virtual participation in the ceremony, which will take place March 12-13. On this subject writing American show business magazine Variety, citing sources.
According to the publication’s interlocutors, Mike Simpson, a representative of the Hollywood agency WMA, approached the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences with a request to allow Zelenskyyy to speak at the ceremony in a virtual format. However, the Academy rejected this request. The Academy has not officially commented on this decision.
Variety notes that the Academy denied the President of Ukraine a speech at the Oscars in 2022. According to sources, then-Oscars producer Will Packer, justifying his denial, said that Hollywood only pays attention to Ukraine because the “whites” there suffer from military conflicts, and at the same time ignore “wars around the world that affect people of color”. people.” The producer did not respond to Variety’s request.
Why Zelenskyyy was denied a speech in 2023 is unknown, but generally the Academy prefers to “stay away” from political topics, the newspaper notes.
The Oscars were created in 1929 by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to filmmakers for their contribution to the creation of films.
At the same time, according to Variety, Oscar wasn’t the only movie platform that refused Zelenskyyy to speak. For example, in September 2022, the TIFF film festival, which was held in Toronto, Canada, also did not accept the virtual appearance of the Ukrainian leader. The film festival representative did not comment on the site’s decision, but noted that TIFF expresses “expresses its solidarity with the Ukrainians”.
In December, the International Football Federation (FIFA,Football,Soccer) rejected Volodymyr Zelenskyy ‘s request to have his performance shown in the World Cup final in Qatar.
In 2022, Zelenskyyy makes a virtual appearance at the Cannes and Venice Film Festivals, and in February 2023, at the Berlinar.
