Screening of Russian propaganda film about war in Ukraine cancelled in Italian town

A screening of The Witness, a Russian propaganda film that spreads lies about the Russian war against Ukraine, was cancelled in a town in Italy's Lazio region. Source: European Pravda, citing Tusciaweb and other local Italian news outlets Details: Donbass Italia, a pro-Russian Italian-language Twitter (X) account, and journalist Andrea Lucidi, also a Russia supporter, announced that The Witness will be screened at the San Leonardo Theatre in Viterbo on 18 February.

Later local news outlets published a column by Giacomo Barelli, a local lawyer and politician, who said the film was full of lies, expressed his solidarity with Ukraine, and urged the theatre administrators and everyone else involved in organising the screening to cancel it.

The theatre administration later issued a statement which suggested that the screening would no longer take place. "The San Leonardo Theatre received a suggestion and decided it was appropriate to cancel the screenings, given that the majority of people would consider this film controversial," the statement reads. Comments under Lucidi's tweet announcing the screening indicate that efforts are being undertaken to screen the film in other Italian cities, including Milan.

Previously: City officials in Modena, Italy, have revoked the permission that had earlier been granted for a Russian exhibition on the "fast recovery" of the occupied city of Mariupol.

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