The Uzbek Culture Ministry said on April 5 that the Artdocfest/Asia film festival was blocked because its organizers "did not obtain permission" to hold a public event and failed to comply with regulations.
The international documentary film festival began on April 2 in the capital, Tashkent, but was suddenly stopped by the authorities on April 4 just before the start of a film on the war in Ukraine. It was to run until April 8.
One of the 10 films on the festival program was the Ukrainian war film Eastern Front, directed by Russian Vitaly Mansky and Ukrainian Yevhen Titarenko. Some of the money generated from ticket sales was to be used for medical vehicles, according to the festival's website.
At least one other film on Ukraine -- about the destruction of Mariupol during the war -- was due to be shown.
But Mansky -- also the founder of Artdocfest -- told the media outlet Meduza on April 4 that Uzbek police, apparently acting on orders from the Culture Ministry, banned Eastern Front from being shown. All other film screenings were also prohibited.
"Artdocfest Asia was held in Uzbekistan three times (last in 2022), but the inclusion of our film Eastern Front...in the program made the Culture Ministry so tense that the screening was banned, the cinema was sealed, and the entire film festival was banned," Titarenko said on Facebook on April 5.
"The Russian Federation works systematically everywhere in the world."
The Uzbek Culture Ministry said in its April 5 statement that "despite the official warning from law enforcement agencies," the screening of films was organized and "an administrative misdemeanor" was committed.
Uzbek law requires private organizers to get permission from the Interior Ministry before holding a public event, the statement said. They must also apply to the Culture Ministry's Cinematography Agency in order to show local and foreign films.
The ministry statement notes that "failure to comply with these rules and conditions leads to the cancellation of the permit" to publicly show films.
Mansky was added to the Russian Interior Ministry's wanted list in September 2022 after pro-Kremlin director Nikita Mikhalkov accused him of libel.
Parts of Artdocfest were held in Tashkent in 2022.