[14 June 2006 22:38]
To the director Michael Haneke
We have no other choice than to address you in an open letter, because the situation that has arisen due to your unacceptably late refusal to participate in the Moscow International Film Festival as a member of the Jury extends far beyond the limits of an in-house problem and will certainly result in major public repercussions.
Going back to the beginning, allow us to remind you that on March 29th you sent us a letter in which you officially agreed to head the Jury of our Festival and to come to Moscow for the time period from June 23 to July 2, 2006. Being confident of your intentions, we have turned down several highly respectable and well-known filmmakers. In addition to that, the Jury was formed in accordance with your recommendations.
Moreover, you had expressed a wish to hold a retrospective of your work as a part of the festival program. According to this wish, we have compiled a special program that includes every film you've made (all the films have been translated into Russian), and booked a screening room in one of Moscow's best movie theaters.
Much to our regret, we have to point out that your letter of refusal came on June 7th, which is only 16 days away from the festival opening date!
You have participated in numerous international film festivals before, and you should be well aware that by this moment, all the necessary preparations are already completed. The festival program has been finalized, the information booklets and film catalogues have been printed, and certainly the name of the Chairman of the Jury has already been announced.
The MIFF is not a private enterprise. It's one of the biggest and best-known international film festivals. We're proud to have had world-famous filmmakers visiting, participating, and judging for the Festival during the many years of its history.
We find your actions to be insulting not only to the Moscow International Film Festival, but to our country as well, and disrespectful to the filmmakers from other countries who will present their works at the Festival. In all the forty-eight years that the Festival has existed, nobody has ever done anything like that.
The management of the Moscow International Film Festival is deeply disappointed by this turn of events and can see no reasonable justification for your dishonest act.
The Organizing Committee and General Management
of the XXVIII Moscow International Film Festival