Child 44 removed from cinemas in Belarus
Authorities in charge of ideology in Belarus move to ban the screening of the US-made movie about WWII, apparently to join the ban in Russia.
Belarus cinemas will not be screening the Hollywood movie Child 44. On the morning of 15 April, it was banned in Russia. The day before the release, at the preview, the Russian Ministry of Culture decided that it should not be shown in cinemas.
"At the end of the press viewing session of the movie Child 44, the Ministry of Culture received questions regarding the contents of the film: about the distortion of historical facts and misinterpretations of events before, during and after the Great Patriotic War, as well as images and characters of Soviet citizens of that time... Opinions of the distributors and representatives of the Ministry of Culture coincided: the rental of such films on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Victory is unacceptable," said the official commentary of the Culture Ministry on the ban of the movie.
On April 15, representative of the Kinavideaprakat engaged in distribution of films in the territory of Belarus, told Euroradio that in Belarus the movie premiere was not canceled. "We know about the situation in Russia, but we have already prepared the movie and sold the tickets, it will be shown in all the cinemas," said the person from the the planning department of the Kinavideaprakat.
However, within just a few hours, there was quite the opposite information. Comment on the movie ban was promises on April 16.
Minsk cinemas confirmed to Euroradio that Child 44 will not be shown in Belarus. "Yes, the film has been withdrawn from cinemas," said the person at the Tsentralnyi movie theater.
The action movie Child 44 is set in the time of Joseph Stalin's Soviet Union. The protagonist is a Soviet intelligence officer Leo Demidov. He investigates a series of child murders, but his actions make the Soviet authorities suspicious. The film with the budget of more than $50 million was shot by the US, the UK, Romania and the Czech Republic. It was directed by Daniel Espinosa.
Premiere in Belarus was scheduled for April 16. The movie would have been shown in Minsk, Hrodna and Vitsebsk.
