A strong response to statements by Russian film and television schools
CILECT, the international association of film and television schools, has reacted strongly to statements made by Russian film school leaders in relation to Ukraine.
On 12 May, CILECT issued a statement condemning Russia’s hostilities in Ukraine and expressing its deep concern at the support for the war which has been expressed by Russian school rectors. The association’s council stressed that all CILECT member schools must adhere to the association’s common goals and values, irrespective of the undemocratic form of politics being wielded in the country.
Back in March, on the initiative of the Film and Television Department and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre’s International Relations Office, an appeal was sent to CILECT, the world association of film and television schools, regarding the official support for Russia’s war in Ukraine which was being expressed by the rectors of the Russian Federation’s film schools, VGIK and GIKIT.
The letter which demanded the removal of these schools from the CILECT network was signed by the heads of national film and television schools in five countries: the Baltic Film, Media, and Arts School at Tallinn University; the VSMU’s Film and Television Faculty in Bratislava; the Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (FAMU); the Polish National Film, Television, and Theatre School in Lodz; and the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre.
In a letter which was addressed to CILECT president, Professor Bruce Sheridan, attention was drawn to the official support for Russia’s war in Ukraine which was being expressed by the rectors of the Gerasimov Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) in Moscow and the St Petersburg State University of Film and Television (GIKIT), and their recognition of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics.
In support of Ukraine’s legitimate struggle for independence, and in support of the country’s sovereignty and peace, the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre has admitted eighteen Ukrainian students to the Department of Film and Television where they will be majoring in video directing, dramaturgy, cinematography, editing, and sound design. Most of them have come from the LMTA’s Erasmus partner school, the Kyiv National I K Karpenko-Kary Theatre, Cinema, and Television University. The academy gave these Ukrainian students the opportunity to live in Lithuania and to receive a fully-fledged study course at the Department of Film and Television.
23 May 2022