Free Republic

Armando Iannucci's movie was screened on Thursday and Friday in defiance of the culture ministry's ban. On Friday, police raided the Moscow movie theater Pioner, which screened Armando Iannucci's movie The Death of Stalin, banned in Russia by the culture ministry, news agency TASS reported. By the time several police officers showed up at the theater, located in central Moscow, the 11:50 a.m. screening was already over. A police source, quoted by TASS, said the theater could be fined for screening the movie, whose exhibition license was withdrawn on Tuesday just two days before it was scheduled to open. Meanwhile,...

A day after causing an uproar in Israel by implying that Likud voters were a “marching herd of beasts”, actor Oded Kotler on Monday sought to clarify his remarks. Speaking to Army Radio, Kotler apologized for the way he worded his comments, but insisted that the premise behind them was correct. The actor’s remarks had been made at a rally on Sunday night to protest the new government's policy that no funding would go to artists who boycott the state. Kotler, in his remarks, particularly criticized Culture Minister Miri Regev, saying, “Imagine your world, Mrs. Regev, as a quiet world,...

Culture Minister Miri Regev was steadfast Sunday in defending her decision to review funding for an Arab-Jewish theater, making clear that cultural institutions who partner in boycotts against Israel will not be funded by the country. Last Tuesday, Regev announced she would "reconsider" state funding to the Elmina Theater, after manager Norman Issa refused to participate in a play in Judea and Samaria. That decision incurred the wrath of leftist artists and politicians, with Meretz chairwoman Zehava Galon accusing Regev of "silencing creators who don't align with the regime's position." Regev, however, was undeterred. "Institutions that delegitimize the State of...

Top Iranian dancer detained THE ASSOCIATED PRESS TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's best-known female dancer and 24 of her students have been detained on charges of dancing in public -- for an all-female audience, her husband said yesterday. Although there are no written laws against dancing, Iran's hard-line clerics have banned the activity, which they consider a promotion of moral corruption. Farzaneh Kaboli and 24 of her students were detained Wednesday night as they were performing folk dances during the second night of a two-week program at Tehran's prestigious Vahdat Hall, Hadi Marzban said. Marzban said the students were freed yesterday...