The Minister of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Dmytro Kuleba called it hypocrisy the refusal to allow the President Volodymyr Zelensky to speak at the Oscars film award ceremony.
Kuleba stated this in an interview with the German newspaper Bild.
"I think that if the film All Quiet on the Western Front wins the Oscar award for the best foreign film, but President Zelensky, who leads a country at war — waging the biggest war since the Second World War in Europe — will not be allowed to speak at Oscars, then you will not find a better example of hypocrisy of top managers and producers in the film industry," noted Kuleba.
"The word ridiculous is not enough to describe this hypocrisy. I do not question the quality of this film. Iʼm just saying, people, if youʼre going to award a war movie and donʼt realize that when youʼre drinking champagne and wearing nice clothes and diamonds and donʼt want to hear a real war story happening right here and now, something is wrong with you," the minister added.
- On March 9, the American publication Variety wrote that for the second year in a row, the Oscars rejected the application of the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky to perform in video format. Academy Award producer Will Packer, according to Variety, expressed concern that Russiaʼs war against Ukraine has received attention in Hollywood only because its victims are "white," while "wars around the world that affect people of color are being ignored".