Ukrainian director explains the danger of the Russian series "The Word of the Boy": we are partially losing this war

Ukrainian filmmaker and screenwriter Marysia Nikitiuk believes that in addition to the physical war, Ukraine is also fighting a war for identity. And, according to the filmmaker, we are partially losing. A vivid proof of this is the popularity of the Russian propaganda series "The Word of a Boy. Blood on the Asphalt," which romanticizes the USSR, robbery, and crime.

Nikitiuk notes that the terrorist country invests huge amounts of money not only in the film and television projects themselves, but also in their distribution and popularization. Meanwhile, in Ukraine, the cultural and information space, according to the director, is not being developed. These comments were made on Espresso TV channel.

"This is really a war for identity. And in fact, we are partially losing this war. Because no one is investing as much money as Russia is investing in its content, movies and programs. Russians invest a lot of money in popularizing their content. Even those Russian directors who have left Russia continue to do so. At the same time, Ukrainian directors are not able to film in Ukraine. The state simply doesn't do it. We are not engaged in the cultural and information space," Marysia expressed her opinion on the popularity of the series "The Word of the Boy".

The director, who has directed such films as "When trees fall", "I, Nina", and others, believes that such a predominance of Russian content over Ukrainian content, even in the face of a full-scale war, is extremely dangerous. That is why, in Nikitiuk's opinion, it is important to pay more attention to creating our own high-quality and competitive material.

"Unfortunately, today in Ukraine the approach to content creation is more electoral. This applies to films, cinema and entertainment and educational programs. For some reason, we always need to promote some nonsense and shoot it cheaply and quickly. That is why a normal teenager will not watch this kind of stuff, and not only him. A very small percentage of people will watch it at all. This situation needs to be changed," said Marysia.

The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine first reacted to the spread of the Russian series in the Ukrainian media space. Viewers were urged to avoid popularizing and watching film products from a hostile country, as it finances the war and promotes Kremlin narratives. The official statement reiterated that The Word of the Boy contains Russian propaganda.

Later, representatives of the Ukrainian State Film Agency also commented on the hype in the Ukrainian information space around the propaganda Russian series. They noted that the distribution and demonstration of a Russian film product "is clearly regarded as a violation of the law, which is punishable."

The remarks also concerned media professionals who "consciously or unconsciously play along with the occupiers" by advertising Russian content of the terrorist country. Among them is the well-known blogger Anna Alkhim, who boasted that she was watching a Russian TV series.

Meanwhile, Masha Yefrosinina also reacted to the hype around the series. The presenter expressed her indignation at the fact that media professionals and ordinary citizens are defending their "right" to listen and watch Russian content, forgetting that Ukrainian soldiers are dying for them at the same time.

For those who believe that there are no analogues to the Russian series among the domestic film product, OBOZ.UA has made a special selection. In it, we have collected five projects that can be watched instead of The Word of the Boy.

The film, by the way, features the son of the main critic of the Putin regime, musician and frontman of the band Mashina Vremeni, Andrii Makarevych.

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