Screening of a film about Irganai IDPs cancelled due to disrupted “Artdocfest” film festival

A film about residents of Dagestani villages that fell into the flood zone of the Irganai hydroelectric power plant was included in the programme of the “Artdocfest” documentary film festival, but its screening was cancelled because of an attack on Vitaly Mansky, an organizer of the film festival, and the disruption of the “Artdocfest”, the Human Rights Centre (HRC) “Memorial”* reported.

The “Caucasian Knot” has reported that on March 25, the Moscow City Court granted an appeal against the decision of the Presnensky Court of Moscow on a claim filed by residents of Dagestani villages that fell into the flood zone of the Irganai hydroelectric power plant (HPP). The court obliged the authorities to prepare documents for the payment of compensation to the residents affected by the commissioning of the Irganai HPP.

The screening of the film about the Irganai internally displaced persons (IDPs) “Flooded Zone”, prepared by the HRC “Memorial”*, scheduled at the “Artdocfest” documentary film festival, was cancelled because of the disruption of the opening of the film festival, the HRC “Memorial”* reports today in its Telegram channel “Polny PTs”.

“First, they reported about a bomb allegedly planted to the ‘Oktyabr’ cinema, and then film director Vitaly Mansky was doused with paint. As a result, the film festival has been cancelled,” the HRC reports in its message.

The opening ceremony of the film festival was planned on March 31, but film director Vitaly Mansky was doused with paint at the entrance to the “Oktyabr” cinema before the first screenings. The police cordoned off the building of the cinema and asked the people to leave the place, referring to a report about a bomb allegedly planted to the cinema, the “Kommersant” reported in the evening of the same day.

* The organization is included by the Russian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) in the register of NCOs performing functions of a foreign agent.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on April 1, 2022 at 12:44 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.