Speaking at a press-conference for the second installment of his latest film, The Inhabited Island, Bondarchuk was asked to speak on symbolism in the movie.  The futuristic sci-fi flick, based on a 1971 novel by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, takes place on a planet ruled by a military dictatorship, where authorities use a network of towers as mind-control devices over the population.

Bondarchuk, a member of the ruling United Russia party, told the audience that “we are heading into the toilet,” suggesting that the film’s towers represented propaganda and the complete lack of media freedom in Russia.  The words were picked up in the Russian blogosphere, spreading like wildfire after they appeared on the Kasparov.ru online newspaper.

With his speech public, the director went on the defensive, recanting what he had said and expressing disgust at Kasparov.ru.  Speaking with the PolitOnline internet publication, Bondarchuk said, “I feel downright unpleasant – I’ve been smeared…  I was talking about [a quote] from a Serebrennikov film, ‘Russian film is in the toilet, only Fyodor Bondarchuk is a cool guy,’ and they transferred these words to the country.  I said nothing of the sort!  Everyone knows my position and what I say about the president perfectly well.”

Bondarchuk went on to clarify that America, not Russia was descending into totalitarianism:

“I really did speak about newspapers, but that we’re heading, that there’s a totalitarian regime – I was actually talking about America.  They organized such a mess – changing two words and coming out with this… I always said that I support United Russia and can speak freely, make films in a free country.  I said ‘Thank God that I don’t live in Belarus, where they banned the screening of The Inhabited Island.’  But they don’t write this!  One more time – the phrase was said about a motion picture, it was a quote.  They’ve completely lied through their teeth at Kasparov.ru.”

A full transcript of the press-conference (Rus), however, seems to contradict Bondarchuk’s later comments.

A listener asks the director, “What do you associate with these towers in our country?”  After a pause, Bondarchuk responds:

“We’re heading into the toilet… There are no newspapers, no radio.  There’s only the internet.  When we had Yeltsin, people ran to watch the television, which was full of substantial and candid programs.  And now the newspaper headlines have started to resemble propaganda times.  There are no alternatives visible, and this is frightening.  I can speak on this for a long time, but then I’ll have problems…”

It is unclear what problems Bondarchuk was referring to, and what the consequences of the director’s words will be.

Kasparov, the subject of a new documentary premiering at the festival, spoke passionately about declining press freedoms and a targeted Kremlin campaign to keep the Russian public in the dark. The latest example came in the form of a state order for journalists to stay silent on the economic crisis sweeping Russia, and quit “spreading rumors of panic.”

After the discussion, which flared into a bright exchange between Kasparov and IDFA chairman Derk Sauer, Kasparov sat in on the premier of a new film titled “In the Holy Fire of Revolution.” Directed by Masha Novikova, the film follows the protest movement against former President Vladimir Putin and Russian authorities over two years. Chronicling the constant struggle faced by the Russian opposition, the documentary then follows Kasparov’s 2008 presidential campaign as new barriers are thrown in its way. Opposition figures are intimidated and arrested, pro-Kremlin Nashi youth meet and taunt activists at every turn, and pressure comes in from all sides.

As result of the growing pressure and intimidation, Kasparov was ultimately forced to drop his presidential bid.

While it is unlikely that the film will be shown widely in Russia, Novikova plans to screen it at International festivals in the country and at the Andrei Sakharov Museum and Civil Center. She is also submitting it to the Tbilisi, Georgia Festival in December.

“Now is a very good moment for Georgian people to see that, in Russia, we are also against the Kremlin”, Novikova said Saturday. “We [in Russia] have had one hundred years when we were friends [with Georgia]. It cannot be that politics can make enemies of us.”