Liev Schreiber “Struggles” With Calls To Boycott Russian Art & Says Putin Is Counting On “Chaos & Misinformation” – KVIFF

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While Ukrainian filmmakers have called out international festivals such as Cannes and Karlovy Vary for the inclusion of Russian titles in their lineups, Liev Schreiber, who has Ukrainian roots stemming from his maternal grandfather, admits he “struggles” with the idea of boycotting art of any kind.“I struggle with the idea of boycotting any kind of art or expression,” Schreiber told journalists at a press conference at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival on Saturday. “Having said that, the reason that I believe, and everyone always asked me why I think Ukraine is going to win, is because I believe that they are going to come out of this eventually on the right side of history.

And I believe that because they have the truth on their side.”Schreiber, who was in town to discuss his initiative BlueCheck Ukraine, stressed that what is most in play right now is truth in the media, saying that “misinformation has become a dangerous new idea in both America and abroad and I think that is something that Putin is counting on – chaos and misinformation.”The actor-director said, “We do have to be careful with media and we do have to be careful about what we consume.

But the idea of ever censoring or boycotting artists is something that is hard for me, and I feel challenged by because one of the things I love about our constitution is that it protects free speech.

Certainly, one of the things I love about being in the arts is that there is the idea of, ‘if it’s true, it’s worth knowing.’ So, I think we have to be very careful about the media coming out of Russia since it’s so state-controlled or film for that matter or the propaganda coming out of Russia right now.”Last week, several leading Ukrainian filmmakers including