Investigators in Russia have launched a probe against noted independent documentary filmmaker Vitaly Mansky after pro-Kremlin film director Nikita Mikhalkov accused him of libel.
Russian TV personality Ksenia Sobchak wrote on her Telegram channel on September 6 that she was summoned by the police and informed that she is a witness in the case against Mansky.
If convicted, Mansky faces up to two years in prison. He is outside of Russia at the moment, prompting the Interior Ministry to add him to the country's wanted list.
According to Sobchak, Mikhalkov's lawsuit stems from Mansky's interview with Sobchak’s YouTube channel, where he said that "at least 85 percent" of the state's financial allocations to the Mikhalkov-led annual Moscow International Cinema Festival "is stolen on a regular basis."
"As a festival manager, I can precisely calculate the exact cost of that festival. And it costs, at the most, 15 percent of all amounts it directly gets from the state. I am ready to prove in court that I am right on that matter," Mansky said in an interview he gave to Sobchak in May that aired on her YouTube channel.
The 58-year-old Ukraine-born Mansky is a well-known documentary filmmaker, opposition public figure, and the organizer of Russia's largest annual international documentary film festival, called Ardocfest.
In recent years, Mansky's festival has faced pressure from the authorities.
This year's festival was scheduled to start in March. However, it was cancelled after Russian authorities banned several documentaries that were to be shown at the event and Mansky was attacked by unknown individuals who splashed paint on him at the entrance of a cinema theater in Moscow, where the opening of the festival was scheduled.
Mansky said after that that his festival will not be held in Russia until the current regime is changed.
Nikita Mikhalkov, an Oscar-winning director who leads the Russian Cinematographers Union, is a staunch supporter of President Vladimir Putin.
