This Thursday, April 14, Seattle International Film Festival opens with the Navalny documentary. We feel that highlighting a movie about a Russian dissident at the time of genocide against the Ukrainian people, is extremely tone-deaf, hurtful, and infuriating.

In their news announcement, SIFF did not even have the courage to call the war in Ukraine 'war', mildly putting it as "Ukraine conflict". 

Besides, this film choice is extremely untimely and questionable, because of Navalny's xenophobic and nationalist views. Despite being anti-Putin, Navalny denies the existence of the Ukrainian nation, calling Ukrainians and Russians "the same people". Sadly, this echoes Putin's colonial narrative, used to justify his invasion of Ukraine.

We are asking you to be sensitive to the suffering of the Ukrainian people and to reconsider your opening movie. If you'd like to raise a discussion about the war, please amplify Ukrainian voices, not Russian ones.