Belarus follows Russia and bans Hollywood film Child 44

The decision to ban the film was made by Russian distributor Central Partnership.

Child 44, directed by Swede Daniel Espinosa and starring Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman and Noomi Rapace, tells the story of Soviet intelligence officer Leo Demidov who investigates a series of child murders in 1952, Nasha Niva reports.

Russian distributor Central Partnership and Russia's Ministry of Culture said the the distribution certificate for the film was called back because the movie distorts historical facts.

“After the press show, the Ministry of Culture received questions about the content of the film, relating to the distortion of historical facts and dubious interpretations of events before, during and after the Great Patriotic War. […] Distributors and the Ministry of Culture have the same opinion: the screening of such films on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the Victory is unacceptable,” the joint statement of Central Partnership and the Ministry of Culture of Russia says.

The film is an adaptation of Tom Rob Smith's novel Child 44, which was based on the story of Andrei Chikatilo. The writer said that “one of the main characters of the novel is Soviet Russia - a monstrous mix of horror and absurdity”.

According to tut.by, the film won't be screened in Belarus, though Kinovideoprokat company of the Minsk city executive committee confirmed to Nasha Niva a few hours earlier that the premiere would take place on April 16.

The movie will not be shown also in Silverscreen private cinema chain.

Vasili Koktysh, the general director of Kinovideoprokat, says the decision to ban the film in Belarus was made by Russian Central Partnership. Under the agreement with the distributor, Kinovideoprokat can claim penalties for the cancelled screening, but won't do it because the company didn't suffer losses.

According to Koktysh, the film didn't have commercial potential. It was planned to show it in five cinemas during a week.

“Two tickets were sold at Cinema House, eight tickets were sold at Belarus cinema. No one bought tickets at Aurora cinema. We don't have losses, but the ban added popularity to the film. People will watch it on the Internet now,” he noted.