Moscow film festival opens with praise of soldiers in Donbas

MOSCOW (AP) — The 44th Moscow International Film Festival has opened with reduced foreign representation amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Festival head Nikita Mikhalkov, the Academy Award-winning director of “Burnt By The Sun,” brushed that off on Friday. He said “It makes no difference how big are the stars that come. I’m interested in people who come because they are interested in meeting us.” Mikhalkov also praised Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, saying “these days, the heroes are in Donbas.” The festival opened with the premiere of a widely anticipated Russian historical epic: “Land of Legends,” directed by Anton Megerdichev.