Moscow, November 2, 2017
Photo: patriarchia.ru A genuine work of cinematic art cannot be foreign to beauty and harmony and should serve the eternal ideals of goodness and love, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia said at the opening of the XIV international charitable film festival “Radiant Angel” yesterday. Opening the festival, whose motto is “Kind Cinema,” the primate noted that today “there are people who are willing to stand for and promote the ideas of high art, correlated with unchanging moral principles, to a wide audience,” reports patriarchia.ru.
“We must clearly understand the importance and enduring value of ethical norms. Loyalty to them by the author of any artistic production determines its true merit,” His Holiness added.
As the primate of the Russian Church noted, “the skill of the director and cameraman, and the visual appeal, and aesthetics are intended to accent the most important thing and to serve the eternal ideals of goodness, love, and justice, and to express them, as form expresses content.”
The patriarch further stressed that “art is meant to introduce people to the beautiful, and the aesthetically perfect, and to testify to Divine beauty and majesty, as well as the beauty of the world created by God.”
In conclusion, Pat. Kirill noted that festivals like Radiant Angel “are meant to facilitate a return to our cinema of this intrinsic relationship that makes art something more than just a means of entertaining and pastime.”
The Radiant Angel international film festival is being held in Moscow from November 1 to 7 under the patronage of the chairman of the board of trustees of the “Spiritual-Moral Culture of the Coming Generation of Russia” program S. V. Medvedeva, and is one of the program’s main projects. The project is also supported by the Educational Committee of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Russian Ministry of Culture.
His Holiness also recently spoke about the necessity of treating history properly in creative works. “When you’re working with history, it’s very easy to go into a deceitful interpretation, even in the small things. But for an honest person, lies and deceit are unthinkable,” he stated at a meeting of the Supreme Church Council of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Explaining how to properly handle history, the patriarch continued, “Strive to be conscientiousness when dealing with facts. Avoid fabrications, and especially fabrications which are not just false, but are also able to hurt a great many people, as has occurred with a not-yet-released but already infamous film.” His Holiness was referring to the currently-showing film “Mathilde” which has proven to be highly controversial due to its boorish treatment of the Royal Martyr Tsar Nicholas II.
