VENICE — Sergei Loznitsa is a Ukrainian filmmaker who criticized the European Commission's decision to cut funding to the Venice Biennale. He is showing his new film Imperium out of competition at the Venice film festival.

"Cutting off funding to the Biennale is like a punishment in kindergarten," Loznitsa said. He stated he would never personally visit the Russian pavilion.

Loznitsa stated that the controversy over the Russian pavilion was a distraction from the EU’s failure to enforce effective economic sanctions against Moscow. "The question I ask myself is this: can the existence of this Russian pavilion stop this war or not?" he asked.

Pietrangelo Buttafuoco is the president of the Venice Biennale. He accused the European Commission of "abandoning our journey." Buttafuoco stated that the Biennale was not engaged in politics but in "international research in the field of arts."

The Venice Biennale allowed Russia to use its pavilion for the first time since 2022. Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Russian pavilion’s exhibition The Tree is Rooted in the Sky was accessible only during pre-opening vernissage dates. The Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale has been closed to the public since 9 May.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs raised "profound concern" over Khrzhanovsky’s film Dau. A spokesperson for the ministry stated, "Russia has long used culture as an instrument of state policy and hybrid warfare." Sergey Adonyev has been sanctioned by the US and Ukraine. Teodor Currentzis accepted Russian citizenship granted by Vladimir Putin.

Alberto Barbera is the artistic director of the Venice film festival. He rejected the description of Dau as a "Kremlin-financed project." "[It] is not a Russian film; it is not pro-Putin propaganda," Barbera said. "It is a film that denounces totalitarian regimes and their intrusion into citizens’ lives to restrict their freedom."

Why It Matters

The conflict shows diverging views on the role of cultural institutions during geopolitical conflicts. While the European Commission framed the reopening of the Russian pavilion as insufficiently justified, Biennale leadership characterized the move as a defense of artistic research independent of politics. Critics, including the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, viewed the pavilion's presence as an extension of state policy, while supporters of specific projects within the festival argued the content served as a critique of totalitarianism rather than propaganda.

Timeline

A full EU-wide ban on Russian gas is scheduled for 2027.

What's New

Later reporting indicates there is no record of a previous incident involving the Venice Biennale Foundation and the European Commission regarding the opening of the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Additional details show the European Commission recommended that the European Education and Cultural Executive Agency (EACEA) terminate the €2 million grant to the Venice Biennale, stating that the reasons given by the Biennale were deemed insufficient for the reopening of the Russian pavilion. The European Commission gave the Biennale Foundation thirty days to either backtrack or present arguments capable of halting the revocation process, as part of the procedure to revoke the grant. The European Commission is the executive branch of the European Union.