Kyiv is urging the Estonian film festival to cancel the screening of the Russian film "Deaf Lovers."

The State Film Agency called on the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (POFF) to remove the Russian film “Deaf Lovers” from its main program in protest against the portrayal of “romantic” relationships between Russians and Ukrainians, the agency reported on November 12.

The film, directed by Russian filmmaker Boris Guts, tells the story of a romantic relationship between two hearing-impaired individuals – a refugee from Ukraine and a Russian – who meet in Istanbul during the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Critics of the film argue that the depiction of love between a Russian and a Ukrainian starkly contrasts with the reality faced by Ukrainian women at the hands of Russian soldiers.

During the war, Ukrainian women have continually suffered torture, rape, and other forms of sexual violence, critics emphasize.

As part of the POFF film festival, there is a section titled “Standing with Ukraine” featuring Ukrainian films that are “dedicated to Ukrainians determined to defend their right to decide their own future,” according to the festival's website.

Despite praising the organizers for showcasing films dedicated to Ukraine, the State Film Agency stated that including a film by a Russian director in a Ukraine-focused program could pose a “risk of propaganda that justifies (Russian) aggression.”

“Given the aggression of Russia against Ukraine and the suffering of a large number of the Ukrainian people, it is extremely important to ensure that cultural platforms do not become tools for films that blur the lines of understanding the reality faced by Ukrainians,” the agency stated on its Facebook page.

Following the State Film Agency's protest, the film appears to have been removed from the “Standing with Ukraine” program, although promotional images for the film still appear under the banner. The film remains included in the main program of the festival in a different category.

The controversy surrounding the film's screening arose after film festivals worldwide canceled screenings of “Russians at War,” which many criticized for attempting to whitewash the actions of Russian soldiers involved in the war against Ukraine.

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has launched an investigation against the Russian director of “Russians at War,” Anastasia Trofimova, on charges of justifying and legitimizing Russia's aggression against Ukraine and illegally crossing internationally recognized borders of Ukraine during filming in Russian-occupied territories.

Background. As reported, Ukrainian IT specialists disrupted Navalny's speech at the Web Summit in Lisbon. Activists triggered air raid alerts and shouted, “Stop Russia, stop the war!”