Oliver Stone gets Putin praise, will receive Sarajevo Film Fest honorJuly 25, 2017 - 18:02 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Oscar-winning Hollywood director Oliver Stone, commenting in favorable terms on his recently released The Putin Interviews, The Hollywood Reporter said. The news came as organizers unveiled Monday, July 24, that Stone is set to collect the Sarajevo Film Festival's Heart of Sarajevo Award next month. "I mostly liked Oliver Stone himself," Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Interfax. "He is an unusual and very profound person and a very balanced and comfortable interlocutor." According to Putin, he hasn't yet had an opportunity to watch the entire interview series. "I'm sure that Oliver Stone is a very decent person, and he didn't distort anything," Putin said. "In what I have watched so far, which is about one part and a half, everything is totally correct." That was the first time Putin has commented on Stone. Earlier, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had said the director was "talented and unpredictable when it comes to creative expression." The four-part The Putin Interviews premiered on Showtime on June 12 and aired on Russia's state-run Channel One starting June 19. Meanwhile, Stone will have an opportunity to talk more about his conversations with Putin next month when the 23rd edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival honors him with its Heart of Sarajevo Award. The honorary award is given to people who have made an "extraordinary contribution to the art of film." Announcing the award Monday, the festival, based in the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, noted that Stone has written and directed over 20 full-length features, including such "iconic films" as Platoon, Natural Born Killers, Nixon and Snowden, about NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden who remains in Moscow after seeking asylum in Russia. Previous Heart of Sarajevo honorees include actor Gael Garcia Bernal, Oscar-winning No Man's Land director Danis Tanovic and British director Mike Leigh. Top stories The creative crew of the Public TV had chosen 13-year-old Malena as a participant of this year's contest. She called on others to also suspend their accounts over the companies’ failure to tackle hate speech. Penderecki was known for his film scores, including for William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist”, Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining”. The festival made the news public on March 19, saying that “several options are considered in order to preserve its running” Partner news | Ucom equips four bus stops in Ijevan with free Wi-Fi Ucom now provides free Wi-Fi coverage in smart bus stops in four communities of Ijevan. Armenia, Russia discuss life extension of Metsamor nuclear plant Issues regarding the extension of life of the 2nd power unit of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant were discussed in Yerevan. Armenians stage more campaigns against territorial concessions to Azerbaijan Protesters blocked more roads across Armenia on Friday, April 26 in continuing attempts to scuttle territorial concessions to Azerbaijan. Czech-Armenian military cooperation discussed in Yerevan A delegation led by the Director General for the Industrial Cooperation Division of the Ministry of Defence of the Czech Republic visited Armenia. |