On December 3, 2024, the Russian premiere of the documentary "People of Christ" took place in the Hall of Church Cathedrals of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior in Moscow. Our Time", dedicated to the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by the state authorities of Ukraine. One of the creators of the film was director Emir Kusturica, who was also present at the premiere in Moscow.
His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia attended the event.
The audience was greeted by the creators and characters of the film. Serbian director, screenwriter and producer Jovan Markovic spoke at the beginning of the event. He said that a large international team worked on the film, which included residents of Ukraine.
The floor was given to the Ukrainian writer, the hero of the film, Jan Taksyur, who told about the persecution to which the Ukrainian Orthodox Church is subjected. Yan Ilyich himself was detained by the SBU in Kiev in March 2022 on charges of high treason and sentenced to 12 years in prison. He was released as part of a prisoner of war exchange, after which he left for Russia. His Holiness Patriarch Kirill actively contributed to the release of the writer.
According to Jan Taksiur, now believers in Ukraine are being forced to abandon Orthodoxy, from Christ. And many people sacrifice their lives and health. "I have seen hundreds, maybe even thousands of people who are doing this in Ukraine today," the writer noted.
The greeting of the President of the Russian Federation V.V. Putin was announced by the Minister of Defense of Russia A.R. Belousov.
"Created by our Serbian friends, this film is a documentary evidence of the tragic events taking place in Ukraine, associated with massive violations of the rights and religious freedoms of millions of people, a real outrage against historical memory, persecution of the Orthodox Church by the Kiev regime," Putin said in his greeting.
Then the hero of the film Ruslan Kalinchuk made a speech. He announced an appeal from the international team of project creators to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"The film reveals the essence of the conflict taking place in Ukraine today, the war of the Ukrainian authorities against the Orthodox Christians of the country, the tragedy, conflict and confrontation that are dragging all mankind into their vortex today," the appeal says. — We are talking about a cognitive war in the spiritual, cultural, and mental life of all peoples and each individual. The uniqueness of this documentary project is that the creators of the film were its characters — citizens of different countries — Italy, Serbia, Russia and Ukraine. The world premiere of the film "People of Christ. Our Time" took place in Serbia, in Belgrade, on September 18 this year. Currently, the shows are successfully shown on the TV channels of the Balkan countries. Screenings are being prepared in Russia and the CIS countries, Europe and Latin America."
The initiators of the project appealed to the head of the Russian state with a request to support the initiative to create an international community of cultural, scientific and clergy figures, as well as "to bring the truth about the situation of the destruction of canonical Christianity by the Ukrainian government to the world leaders of the states that are members of the United Nations and, above all, to the leaders of the BRICS countries, whose chairmanship This year, the Russian Federation is implementing it."

Then His Holiness Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia addressed the participants of the event.
"Now they are again trying to tear apart the unified body of Russia by force, plunge us into unconsciousness, impose on us some new stereotypes of thinking that "you are not one people, you are different peoples, and please forget to say that you are one people." We should never forget that we are one people of one Holy Russia. And as long as this is the case, we will have spiritual and intellectual strength, and, I hope, not only spiritual and intellectual, but also any other power capable of restoring the true unity of Holy Russia," said the Primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
In view of his contribution to the preservation of traditional values in society and in connection with the 70th anniversary of his birth, His Holiness Patriarch Kirill presented the director, screenwriter and producer of the film Emir Kusturica with the Order of St. Seraphim of Sarov, I degree.
His Holiness blessed all those present to begin watching the film.
Among the participants of the premiere were Metropolitan Anthony of Volokolamsk, Chairman of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate, Bishop Stefan of Remez, representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Archpriest Nikolai Balashov, adviser to the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Relations with Society and the Media V.R. Legoyda, other representatives of the Church, as well as representatives of state authorities, the public, cultural figures.
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The international premiere of the film took place on September 18, 2024 in Belgrade. It was headed by His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia.
The director and screenwriter of the film is Jovan Markovic. Hierarch of the Serbian Orthodox Church Bishop Irinej of Baca, famous film director, film producer Emir Kusturica, Orthodox priest, philosopher and poet Mario Selvini from Genoa (Italy), lecturer at the University of Cambridge (Great Britain) Vukan Markovich, music producer Yuri Bardash, a native of Donbass, share their thoughts in the tape. Philosopher Ruslan Kalinchuk from Ivano-Frankivsk and priest Nikolai Mogilny from Kiev also spoke about the pressure on believers in Ukraine in the documentary.
"God bless all those who made efforts for this film to be seen by the world, all those who contributed, participated in the creation of this film and all people of good will," His Holiness Patriarch Porfiry of Serbia said before the start of the screening.
The film shows a chronicle of the persecution of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church unleashed by the Ukrainian authorities, including the facts of the forcible seizure of churches and the expulsion of monks from the premises of the Dormition Kiev Pechersk Lavra, the dispersal of believers and priests who disagree with the oppression of the Church. The picture also talks about the adoption by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of a law prohibiting the canonical Church in Ukraine. Churches and monasteries are being searched, bishops and priests are being prosecuted, arrested, and attacked.
"As it used to happen in Yugoslavia, so now, unfortunately, it is happening in Ukraine," the creators of the picture, quoted by Komsomolskaya Pravda, believe. — We talk about the ban of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church in Ukraine and try to give the audience a little more information than can be learned from the media compared to the whole of Europe and even Serbia. We wanted everyone to look at the picture and start thinking about what is happening in the world, how to be and how to live on."
According to director Emir Kusturica, the Orthodox need to stick together, because Orthodoxy, the religion of many peoples, including the Serbs, is now in serious danger.
As Bishop Irinej of Bacha noted, Vladimir Zelensky in Ukraine "did something that even the persecutors, tormentors, and criminals in history, starting with Nero and Diocletian, did not do: no one ever tried to ban the Church as such, but he did it."