Anora’s triumph delighted some Russian propagandists. “One of the main outcomes of 2024—Russia’s so-called cultural cancellation has once again failed miserably,” wrote producer Tina Kandelaki, who runs a media company owned by Gazprom, the Russian state-owned gas monopoly. For some reason, she compared the film’s success to the early 20th-century achievement of Sergei Diaghilev’s Russian ballet. Diaghilev, a gay man who fled Russia to escape persecution, would likely be shocked to see his name being used as a banner by today’s imperial propaganda.
“Is Hollywood recovering? The Oscar went to a normal movie—no gays, lesbians, robots, harassed women, eco-activists, animal rights defenders, or n***s [Black people]. What happened? Did USAID get shut down?”—this is a typical reaction from a pro-Kremlin propagandist blogger.
The full version is in Vanity Fair:
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/anora-russian-propaganda-reaction