In the Kremlin, the awarding of the film “Navalny” about the leader of the Russian opposition Oleksii Navalny “Oscar” for the best full-length documentary film as an attempt to “politicize” the seventh art, reports AFP.

The feature film by the Canadian director Daniel Roer tells about the political rise of Alexei Navalny, the attempt he barely survived, and his subsequent imprisonment.

“And there’s someone else who couldn’t be with us tonight: Alexei Navalny, the leader of the Russian opposition, remains in solitary confinement because of what he calls – I want to make sure I’m quoting him correctly – a war of unjust aggression by Vladimir Putin in to Ukraine,” Roer said after receiving the statuette, Agerpres notes.

In turn, the Kremlin accused Hollywood of trying to “politicize” the seventh art.

“Although I have not seen the film, I assume that there is a certain element of politicization in it,” Kremlin spokesman Dmytro Peskov told the press on Monday.

“Hollywood itself sometimes does not shy away from politicizing its works,” he added.

Imprisoned for more than two years, Navalny was arrested after returning to Russia following a poisoning he blamed on the Kremlin, despite his denials.

He is serving 11 1/2 years in prison in two separate fraud cases that he says were fabricated to silence him.

The wife of the Russian politician, Yulia Navalna, took the stage and made a short speech in which she addressed her husband, while criticizing Vladimir Putin.

“My husband is in prison simply because he told the truth. My husband is in prison simply because he defends democracy,” she said on Sunday.

“Navalny” produced by HBO Max and CNN Films premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2022.

In February 2023, the feature film was awarded Best Documentary at the BAFTA Awards in London.