Why Russian cinema is toxic and how the Kremlin pushes the “Russian world” into it

The episode “Cinema” from the series “The Big Russian Lie” talks about cinema as a platform for promoting the Kremlin’s political interests, the Russians’ love of crime and the gangster aesthetics of the 1990s, and why the presence of Russians at international film festivals is also part of imperialism. Modern Russian cinema reflects the state’s public policy and shapes public sentiment year after year. The world of Russian films and TV series normalises arbitrariness, romanticises cruelty, glorifies power structures and the apparatus of repression. It is enough to mention such films and TV series as “The Word of the Boy,” “The Brigade,” and “Brother-2.” For years, Russians have been dehumanising Ukrainians through cinema, forming an image of them as the enemy. And with the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Russia continues to make propaganda films, continuing to convey its big lie to viewers through movie screens.