Paying each actor $50,000 for odes to Putin: how Russian propaganda works in the movies. Video

For many years, Russian propaganda has used the film industry to achieve its goals. Before the full-scale invasion, films commissioned by the Kremlin worked for the Ukrainian audience, fostering an inferiority complex in us. But the films that began to be made during the great war became a terrible tool in the hands of Putin's ideology. Demonization of Ukrainians, defamation of history and creation of a distorted alternative reality - all this Russia broadcasts in movies not only to its own viewers, but also to foreign ones.

That is why, according to many experts, it is imperative to create our own film product as a counterattack to Russian lies. A story by STB TV channel explains how film propaganda works in a full-scale war (to watch the video, scroll to the bottom of the page) .

The story mentions that after February 24, Russia has released more than one propaganda film that distorts facts and invents its own "truth." One of the most cynical projects was the shameful film Witness, which allegedly tells the story of the events in Bucha and Irpin, where the occupiers committed a real genocide of Ukrainian civilians. However, of course, the Russians did not brag about their own crimes. Instead, they showed Ukrainian soldiers as admirers of Adolf Hitler and Nazism, using all possible narratives of Kremlin propaganda.

The movie is impressive. It is striking in the scale of its lies and lowliness. It was yet another attempt to convince the international community, including Russians, that "Ukraine is to blame for everything," that the tragedies in Ukrainian cities are "fakes and provocations," and that Russians "know best how things really were." Fortunately, the film failed even in the Russian box office, not just with a bang, but with a bang. In its first weekend, it didn't even make back 4% of the money it spent. No more than four viewers attended the premiere, so Witness failed in its mission to mislead the world.

Back in the terrorist country, they started filming a series about Princess Olga of Kyiv. The director is Russian Valeria Gay Germanica, who promised to "rethink history" and tell it "in a new way." However, it is important for the Russians not only to brainwash their people, but also to make a lot of money on it.

Host Hryhoriy German comments: "It's money! Let's not forget that in Russia they steal money everywhere. And the amount of money being stolen on the set of a movie, especially a patriotic movie, is unimaginable to any filmmaker in any other country in the world."

And his colleague Oleksiy Dushka notes that Russian artists love to make money on "patriotism," especially since it involves considerable sums of money, measured in American dollars, which Russians hate.

"Remember your comrades who performed in Donbas. Former KVN hosts, comedians, singers, actors. They are paid from 20 thousand dollars for one performance. The bigger the star, the more they get paid. It even went up to 50 thousand dollars. So Mashkov comes out and shouts: "I'm for Russia! For a strong country"-and bam, he got 50 thousand dollars. And then they also funded his theater for a year," the host revealed.

Before the full-scale invasion, Russia was making "fantasy" films for Ukrainians in the occupied territories. For example, in 2014, a movie was released with the eloquent title "A Reason for War," where the Ukrainian government brutally suppresses protesters in eastern Ukraine, and Russia comes to "save" them. And a lot of such slag has been and is still being filmed.

Russian film propaganda focuses on shifting the responsibility for the horrors committed by the occupiers and the Kremlin onto the Ukrainian side and, of course, the "decaying" West. It defames history and invents a new one that the zombified people believe in, and therefore justifies or even supports Putin's actions. But the worst thing is that foreign viewers can believe it. That is why it is important to make truthful films about Ukraine's past and present.

"Rusnia has just finished making a movie about the Maidan, and they've already made a movie about Bucha and Princess Olga. They have tripled the cost of film production [after February 24, 2022], and I'm not talking about other things. This means that in a year or two, a "correct" picture for Russians will be formed in the West... We have formed an emotional picture of Ukraine among these people [abroad] who are now providing assistance, but it needs to be constantly nurtured. We need to communicate, we need to say: "Guys, we are with you." And one of the most important channels of communication is culture in a broad sense. I'm not even saying whether these are good or bad TV shows, great movies or sh*tty ones. In general, it doesn't matter in this context. What really matters here is the constant creation of a cultural product that would be interesting, at least for the Western audience," commented Volodymyr Yatsenko, a film producer and soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in an interview with The Village Ukraine.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL wrote that the once famous Russian actor, now a director and producer, Sergei Zhigunov, started shooting a propaganda film for children in the annexed Crimea. The filming took place in Sevastopol, Yalta, Gurzuf, and Kherson, and the main role in the movie was played by a Ukrainophobe, Sergei Nikonenko. Read more in our article.

Only verified information is available on our Obozrevatel Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!