(MENAFN) Award-winning American filmmaker Woody Allen will take part in Moscow International Film Week, according to the festival’s official website. The event, which begins this Saturday, is set to host dozens of international participants.

Despite efforts in the West to isolate Russia’s creative community and a wave of “cancel culture” targeting Russian art, the festival has attracted numerous foreign attendees. Allen, a four-time Oscar-winning director and screenwriter, will join the festival online for a special session titled Legends of World Cinema, moderated by Russian director and producer Fyodor Bondarchuk. Other participants include Serbian director Emir Kusturica and American actor Mark Dacascos.

This year’s festival expects over 80 international participants from more than 20 countries, alongside more than 150 Russian and foreign industry professionals, with a focus on cross-border collaboration.

Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian artists have faced growing restrictions abroad. Russian films have been pulled from festivals, screenings canceled, and actors and directors disinvited from cultural events in the West. Recent examples include the cancellation of a concert by conductor Valery Gergiev in Italy and South Korea calling off performances by Bolshoi ballerina Svetlana Zakharova.

Moscow has criticized such measures as Russophobic censorship, asserting that attempts to “cancel” Russian culture will ultimately fail. The Oscars recently nominated Russian actor Yura Borisov for his role in the film Anora, alongside co-star Mark Edelshtein. Borisov was also nominated for a BAFTA and a Golden Globe for the performance.

The nomination sparked largely negative reactions in Ukraine, where activists and media viewed it as symbolic of cultural normalization amid ongoing tensions.

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