Venice’s Giornate degli Autori Suspends Screening Of Georgian Film ‘The Antique’ Over Copyright Dispute

Venice’s Giornate degli Autori (GdA), previously known as Venice Days, has suspended screenings of Georgian director Rusudan Glurjidze’s film The Antique after a copyright issue has come to light.

The parallel section issued a statement saying it had suspended Wednesday’s press and industry screening due to an emergency decree issued by the Court of Venice, obtained by the companies Viva Film (Russia), Avantura Film (Croatia), and Pygmalion (Cyprus) and related to a copyright dispute regarding the film’s script.

The film’s majority producer is the Georgian company Cinetech, while Paris-based international sales company MPM Premium is handling international sales.

The GdA appears to be treading a fine line between supporting Glurjidze and upholding the judge’s decision at the Court of Venice.

“We will do whatever is in our power, in observance of the law as well as the freedom of expression of the filmmaker, to support the existence of the work itself and its visibility in Venice over the coming days,” it said.

The film takes inspiration from the real-life illegal expulsion of thousands of Georgian nationals from Russia in the so-called 2006 Georgian–Russian espionage controversy.