Serbian director Emir Kusturica met with Vladimir Putin and said that he wants to make three films based on the works of Russian classics. The filmmaker expressed hope that the Kremlin leader would help him realise his plans.
"I have an idea to make a Russian triptych, three films. The first will be called The Engineer of Easy Rides, my version of Dostoevsky. Then Gogol, about the quarrel between Ivan Ivanovich and Ivan Nikiforovich. The third one is The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy. If you support me," Kusturica said.
He also confirmed that he is working on a film about a herbalist who has taken the monk's vows, based on the novel Lavra by Yevgeny Vodolazkin, set in Medieval Russia.
Kusturica said that if he manages to make all these films with Putin's help, he will complete his career. Before that, the director thanked the Russian dictator for his "personal historical justice", which "Slavs have always had".
"What is happening in Ukraine now is a struggle for us. We, who saw what happened to these Banderites in Croatia when they expelled 230,000 Serbs... I think this analogy is very important for everyone," Kusturica said.
Afterwards, Putin said that the director's assessment of Ukraine coincided with his vision of the situation and made it clear that he would help Kusturica.
"It's too early to talk about the end of your career... You have done so much to date and I think you will do no less," the president assured.
Earlier, the Serbian director publicly supported Russia's invasion of Ukraine. In his opinion, it was a necessary measure in response to the "aggression of the West", which aims to "wipe Russians off the map".
"This is a war of the Russian-speaking population of Donbas, Luhansk and Crimea, who did not want to stay with Ukraine, which is hostile to them. And in February this year, Russia practically wanted to end the tragedy that Kyiv has been continuing for eight years, or rather since 2014. And it was not a Ukrainian decision, but an American one. Kyiv only obeyed, bringing most of its armed forces to Donbas," Kusturica said.
Background. As a reminder, the German journalist Seipel, author of two books about Putin, received generous fees from Russia for them – they were paid by companies associated with oligarch Mordashov.