Russian director appeals to state after arson attack

MOSCOW: Russian film director Alexei Uchitel on Thursday urged state security to protect cinema goers after an arson attack on his studio over a controversial film about Tsar Nicholas II.
Two assailants threw Molotov cocktails through the windows, causing a fire at Uchitel's studio in Saint-Petersburg at about 3 am local time (0000 GMT, 8am Malaysia) on Thursday and police confirmed they are looking for the pair who "damaged the facade of the building and disappeared."
Uchitel, in a letter shared on Facebook by his lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin, said the attack follows months of harassment over his still unreleased film Matilda, which focuses on Nicholas II's historically documented relationship with ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska.
The film's trailer has seen some Orthodox groups denounce it, but the culture ministry this month approved it for release.
"I am sad and afraid," Uchitel wrote.
"I am sad that this movie, as yet unreleased and unseen, has already inspired so much hatred ... I am afraid for people who are waiting for this film and will go to cinemas in October."
"Today they (the assailants) are setting fire to Lendok film studio and tomorrow they will go set fire to cinemas, where ordinary people could get hurt."
Uchitel said he had written to the interior ministry twice over threats he received from some Orthodox groups, "but there has been no reaction."
He asked Russia's FSB security service chief Alexander Bortnikov and Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev to "ensure not just our safety, but the safety of cinemas and spectators waiting for this film."
"Stop the aggression!" he said. "Let people watch the movie."
Cossacks and Orthodox activists have held vigils and protests against the movie in recent months, with critics saying Nicholas II must be shown as an untouchable holy figure.
The relationship with Kschessinska preceded Nicholas' coronation and marriage.
The movie's most vocal critic, a pro-Kremlin MP Natalia Poklonskaya, on Thursday, warned that the film could provoke "any expressions of extremism and radical sentiments" in an interview with Kommersant radio station.
The Russian Orthodox Church's official position has been to distance itself from the controversy. It has declared Nicholas and his family as saints and holy martyrs. — AFP