Not that "Kino": Alexander Tsoi asked Putin to organize a screening of Alexey Uchitel's film about his father

Musician Alexander Tsoi, son of the leader of the Kino group Viktor Tsoi, has drawn up an appeal addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to check the film by Alexei Uchitel "Tsoi". 

“I was against this film from the very first versions of the script that were shown to me,” the musician wrote on his Instagram.

"The creators are trying to use a well-known surname to capitalize on dubious fantasies."

Alexander Tsoi stressed that he also speaks on behalf of other relatives of Viktor Tsoi: his father Robert, beloved Natalia Razlogova, as well as musicians of the Kino group Yuri Kasparyan and Igor Tikhomirov.

Viktor Tsoi's son shared with the subscribers a scanned version of the appeal, which, according to him, was sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin and Minister of Culture Olga Lyubimova.

From the text of the document, it follows that in 2018 the filmmakers provided Alexander Tsoi with a version of the script, and at the beginning of 2020 they showed a draft version of the video materials.

However, the musician did not approve of them.

According to the applicants, the heroes of the film with fictitious names (however, they are easy to identify) are presented in an unsightly manner, and the images of the characters do not correspond to reality.

View this post on Instagram

Friends, hello.

It's time to speak publicly about the film "Choi".

The filmmakers have been ignoring direct objections to its content for years.

Now they have started a promotional campaign in the media and constantly twist facts, and sometimes they just lie that we have agreed and they have everything in order with the rights.

This is not true.

I have been against this film since the very first versions of the script that were shown to me.

The story told in it is completely fictional, except for the fact of the death of my father in an accident in Latvia in 1990.

I know this for sure, because I was there.

The creators are trying to use a well-known surname to cash in on dubious fantasies.

Most of the people who are offered to guess in the characters of the film are no longer with us.

If they were alive, I'm sure no one would dare to shoot such nonsense about them.

Today, I and other living witnesses have to defend their good names and rights.

I speak not only on behalf of myself, but also on behalf of the close people of my father and my mother - grandfather Robert Maksimovich Tsoi, Natalia Razlogova, Yuri Kasparyan, Igor Tikhomirov.

We are against such a film and against its release.

We sent appeals to the President, Prime Minister and Minister of Culture - the letters can be read in the carousel.

The issue, I am sure, will be settled legally and fairly.

Publication from Sasha Tsoi (@ sashatso.y) 1 Sep 2020 at 1:43 PDT

The letter says that the figure of Viktor Tsoi belongs to the history of not only his family, but the whole country.

However, this does not mean that artists can rethink the image at their own discretion.

“You shouldn't use it as a vulgar source of income, using“ free interpretations ”.

Heroes must command respect.

because they can cause him precisely by their high qualities, it is unworthy to defraud them after death in pursuit of “box office receipts”, ”the document says.

The picture is characterized as "an unremarkable vulgar show that does not correspond to the actual circumstances, attracting the audience with the well-known name of Viktor Tsoi and cynically monetizing the intrigue of" disclosing "something allegedly" previously not disclosed "in his fate."

The applicants emphasize that the copyright holders did not give the filmmakers consent to use the name and image of Viktor Tsoi, as well as the musician's and Kino's musical compositions.

• Viktor Tsoi

• © kino-teatr.ru

At the same time, the authors of the letter ask to settle the situation with the film distribution, without waiting for a court decision - until the tape became available for viewing.

"The court decision will not turn back the clock and will not eliminate the injustice that will arise now and will forever remain in the public consciousness when the film" Tsoi "is made public and broadcasted, discrediting the good name of Viktor Tsoi and his family."

The appeal also mentions that in 2020, Alexander and Robert Tsoi contacted the Ministry of Culture, and also contacted the film production studios.

"The filmmakers have been ignoring direct objections about its content for years," Alexander Tsoi explained on Instagram.

The authors of the letter ask for verification and appropriate action.

Misreadings and fictional characters

Robert Tsoi in an interview with the TV channel "360" said that the information about his involvement in the appeal does not correspond to reality.

“I have never written anything and will not write anything.

No, I have not applied anywhere.

These are all inventions, ”the website of the TV channel quotes the musician's father as saying.

In an interview with TASS, Robert Tsoi also said that he had not written any appeal.

He explained that Alexey Uchitel had agreed to shoot the film.

At the same time, Robert Tsoi does not know anything about the details of the production.

“I

kept in touch

with him (Alexei Uchitel -

)

at one time

, and then no.

Basically, I am aware that he is releasing a film.

For some reason, a lot of noise was raised about this - I do not understand what is the matter.

Has anyone seen this movie?

Is there something outrageous there? "

- he told the agency.

Robert Tsoi noted that he does not know whether he will watch the picture.

• Alexey Uchitel

• RIA News

• © Vitaly Ankov

The controversy surrounding the film "Tsoi" was commented on by Alexey Uchitel's lawyer Konstantin Dobrynin.

He believes that one should not turn to the president to resolve the conflict.

“We believe it is not entirely appropriate in a purely legal issue, for the resolution of which there are many legal mechanisms, to try to involve the executive power in the person of the president,” the lawyer quotes Gazeta.Ru.

Dobrynin noted that upon receipt of the rental permit, the filmmakers provided a package of necessary documents.

Some of them confirm the rights to use intellectual property.

The Ministry of Culture of Russia, as a control body, did not reveal any violations.

At the same time, the lawyer is sure that the decision on the moral and ethical component of the film should be made by the audience.

“It is the people who, having gone to the cinema, will resolve the issue of the merits of the film themselves and without family quasi-censorship, which, unfortunately, begins to sprout next to art,” he said.

The premiere of the film by Alexei Uchitel "Choi" was scheduled for September 3, but at the time of this writing, the release date of the tape is unknown.

The main character of the picture is the driver Pavel Shelest.

Viktor Tsoi's car collided with his bus.

At the same time, Shelest knew nothing about the musician and never listened to his songs.

The film shows how the driver's life changed after the tragedy.

The creators of the tape claim that they did not intend to accurately convey the events, and Tsoi's hero is not there (nevertheless, documentary footage with the musician is included in the picture).

Alexey Uchitel describes the film genre as a road movie and at the same time a parable film.

Evgeny Tsyganov, who plays the main role, noted that the narrative comes to the figure of Tsoi "indirectly".