Josef Stalin: Last News

Eurovision Song Contest onto its wanted list.Jamala – real name Susana Alimivna Jamaladinova – was listed as being sought for violating a criminal law in the Interior Ministry database (via AP News). She was allegedly charged for spreading false information about the Russian military and the ongoing fighting in Ukraine after a law banning such was adopted last year.The singer won the 2016 singing contest with her song ‘1944’, which was named after the year that the Soviet Union deported Crimean Tatars, an annexation largely regarded as illegitimate by other countries who still viewed Crimea as a Ukrainian territory – nearly two years after Russia annexed Crimea, according to Pitchfork.A post shared by Jamala (@jamalajaaa)‘1944’ depicted the suffering endured by her ancestors during deportations under the regime of the Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, which caused further tension with Russia.According to AP News, Russia protested against the song from being allowed in the competition, saying it violated rules against political speech in Eurovision.

There’s a lot to take in and even more to process in American-Armenian director Michael Goorjian’s ambitious period piece: What he’s tilting at here is not beyond the realms of comedy, as Armando Iannucci proved with his 2017 jet-black satire The Death of Stalin. But tone is crucial, and Amerikatsi has a waywardness that too often undermines its intent — there’s a lot that works here and so much that doesn’t. There are moments that are sensitive, thoughtful, and really quite moving — in an elegant, silent-movie way — but the framing is so dark in its humor that many viewers may never make it to them.