Russian director Andrei Konchalovsky won’t release his most recent film, The Postman’s White Nights, which won him the best director’s Silver Lion at Venice, theatrically as he doesn’t want it to be watched by “Hollywood” audiences.
The film’s premiere is scheduled for Nov. 19 on Russia’s main, state-controlled TV network, Channel One.
“Contemporary audiences were raised on Hollywood,” Konchalovsky said in an interview with the online newspaper Gazeta.ru. “They eat popcorn, which crunches in their heads.”
“I make films for people who don’t eat popcorn, and my viewers hardly go to the movies, they stay at home,” he went on to say. “In addition, I want audiences to watch my film for free, to be able to go to the bathroom at any time, to make tea or switch to [another network].”
Konchalovsky, who lived in the United States in the 1980s and made several films in Hollywood, including Runaway Train, Maria’s Lovers and Homer and Eddie, has been recently known for his anti-Hollywood stance.
Last month, he withdrew The Postman’s White Nights from consideration by the Russian Oscar committee as the country’s entry in the foreign language film Oscar race, saying that he didn’t want his film to compete for a “Hollywood” award, the importance of which was “overblown.”
Meanwhile, following the movie’s Venice performance, rights to The Postman’s White Nights have been sold to several territories, including France and Portugal.
Read more Hollywood Salaries Revealed, From Movie Stars to Agents (and Even Their Assistants)
