Georgian Anti-Putin Oscar Entry ‘The Antique’ Back In Court As Russian Producer Sues Venice’s Giornate Degli Autori & Producers

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: Georgian Anti-Putin drama The Antique, which had its world premiere at Venice’s Giornate degli Autori temporarily suspended after Russian and Croatian producers issued an injunction claiming copyright issues, is back in the courts again.

The film’s Georgian producer Zurab Magalashvili at Tbilisi-based Cinetech Film Production and director Rusudan Glurjidze have revealed that the production has been hit by a fresh lawsuit, in what they call “an increasingly aggressive attempt to undermine this Anti-Putin film”.

The drama, which is Georgia’s Oscar entry this year, takes inspiration from the real-life illegal expulsion of thousands of Georgian nationals from Russia in 2006, which included Glurjidze.

The deportations were part of the so-called 2006 Georgian–Russian espionage controversy, sparked by Georgia’s arrest of a number of Russian military officers on charges of espionage and terrorism, when Vladimir Putin was in his first term as Russian president.According to a writ filed at the Court of Venice and seen by Deadline, Moscow-based company Viva Films, Cyprus-based Pygmalion Film and Croatian company Aventura are suing Cinetech and the Giornate degli Autori Association for compensation for “the improper use of the film” related to its public screening in the parallel Venice sidebar. “Cinetech and with it the ‘Giornate degli Autori’ Association are liable for damages caused by the illicit communication of the work to the public which took place on 30 August and 6 September 2024,” it reads.