Woody Allen apologizes for joining Russian film festival

After the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry's harsh reaction to controversial director Woody Allen's participation in the Moscow Film Festival, he immediately began to justify himself. He called Russian dictator Putin "wrong."

He made this comment to The Guardian.

What exactly did Woody Allen say about Putin

In his comments to journalists, he immediately rejected accusations of "whitewashing" Russian crimes.

"When it comes to the conflict in Ukraine, I believe strongly that Vladimir Putin is totally in the wrong. The war he has caused is appalling. But, whatever politicians have done, I don’t feel cutting off artistic conversations is ever a good way to help," said the director.

Woody Allen appeared online on Sunday at the Moscow International Film Week, hosted by director Fyodor Bondarchuk, a longtime political ally of Putin. 

During his speech, Allen said he admires Russian cinema, making special reference to the literary adaptation of the novel War and Peace, filmed by Bondarchuk's father Sergei, which won an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 1969.

Interestingly, Allen's last two films were made with financial support from European sources.

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