You cannot restore broken glass with a blow

The aim of the organizers of the first CIS forum of the creative and scholarly intelligentsia, held in Moscow on April 14-15, was to unite the CIS public in the struggle against violence, ethnic and religious intolerance, and to preserve “a single humanitarian space.” Among the items on the agenda were such practical issues as the range of services in the humanitarian sphere on the territory of the CIS, providing young people from CIS countries with broader access to Russian educational establishments, securing state guarantees and state immunity against arrests on charges of exporting art exhibits; and the unification of the status “creative worker” in the CIS space. One of the subjects broached by speakers at the forum was the situation with the Russian language in CIS countries.

Based on the forum proceedings, recommendations will be drafted and forwarded to CIS governments, agencies, and the business community concerning the development of humanitarian cooperation in the post-Soviet space — specifically, raising comprehensive humanitarian aid to a higher level by forming a civilized market and circulation of services for the benefit of social and economic progress in CIS countries, and resolving problems that have accumulated over the past 15 years, reports Interfax Ukraine.

Among the forum participants were officials representing educational establishments, research centers, cultural associations of CIS countries, as well as government officials and media people. The Day asked film director Oleh FIALKO, who was a member of the Ukrainian delegation, to share his impressions of the forum and its results:

“Some people had the impression that the whole forum is the Kremlin’s brainchild, all the more so as Russian President Vladimir Putin took part in the forum’s work and made an impressive speech. So some of them didn’t even conceal their inertial desire to restore what had existed under the Soviet regime. Such desires were expressed directly or in a roundabout manner, although most of the participants, including Borys Paton [President of Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences], focused on the problem of a common humanitarian space. They spoke passionately and sincerely, offering substantial arguments. During the debate I said that I was not against a common cultural space. It’s a good idea that can help bring nations closer together and understand their cultures. However, we must not idealize the past; there were, of course, positive aspects but also quite a few negative ones. Speaking of cinema, in the Soviet Union the very best always landed in the Mosfilm Studios: resources, money, and technology. The principle was: A little something for the other republics. It didn’t matter whether it was Tbilisi, Kyiv, or Tashkent. While Paradzhanov, Osyka, Balaian, or Bykov were shooting top-notch films, their works were not promoted abroad or sent to festivals like the films made in Moscow’s main studios. But this was our common cultural information space.

“It’s sad but true. At a certain stage during the discussions it seemed that some of the forum participants were either misunderstanding the real state of affairs or willfully making a mistake. But the realities in which we live are different! Every country has a different political and economic situation, just as there are different interpretations of our interrelationships. You cannot restore broken glass with a blow. I think that the resolution adopted by the forum is essentially a recommendation. It contains a number of intelligent clauses, like problems of authorship, identification of laws on production, problems of film production, customs, etc.

“Implementing these recommendations depends on politicians, not on those who were at the forum. (Ukraine was represented by Borys Paton, Vasyl Kremen, Viktor Skopenko, Oleksandr Rutkovsky, et al.). Obviously, the organizers should have invited people who are in a position to influence this process directly. But the resolution may receive a push forward during CIS summits, because this forum arose after an initiative group of creative people and scholars addressed a message to the heads of state during the summit in Kazan.

What will happen in Ukraine? I don’t know. It’s a complicated issue. We are living in a world where there is no way to avoid politics. Here is an example. There were two film directors representing Turkmenistan at the forum. Both are Moscow residents. When it came time to vote, both asked to have their names deleted from the roster, because the very fact of their presence was a mortal threat to them and their families and friends. This is a clear example of something that does not have any connection to politics, and should not have.