Siberian cinemas face closure for screening Wolf of Wall Street

Russia’s drug enforcement agency has ordered ten cinemas in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk to stop screening Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street or risk closure or a fine of up to 1 million roubles (£16,000). The order sent by the Federal Drug Control Service of the Russian Federation on 12 March included testimonies from three major science and medical institutions in Russia attesting to the film’s promotion of drug use.

According to the Institute of Physiology and Fundamental Medicine, the Siberian Branch of the Academy of Medical Sciences and the Novosibirsk regional drug dependence clinic, the film is a “reflection of the subculture of addiction”. The case has now been transferred to the courts, with punishments ranging from fines between 800,000 to 1 million roubles or closure for 90 days. Under Russian law, advertising drug use is a criminal offence.

Source: www.profcinema.ru