OREANDA-NEWS. The Dzerzhinsk court of St. Petersburg brought to administrative responsibility the local branch of the Union of Cinematographers of Russia for violation of the sanitary and epidemiological legislation, reports on Monday, April 26, the joint press service of the city courts.

«The court imposed a penalty in the form of an administrative suspension of activity for 30 days», the report says.

As reported, in early April, representatives of the Rospotrebnadzor of St. Petersburg came to check the «Cinema House» on Karavannaya Street, where the screenings of the films of the «Artdokfest» festival were held. Employees of the department revealed a number of violations of anti-coronavirus sanitary rules, including the discovery of spectators without masks at the festival.

As a result, the premises of two halls were sealed, and in relation to the Union of Cinematographers – the organizer of screenings in the «Cinema House» – protocols were drawn up on an administrative offense under Part 2 of Article 6.3 of the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation (violation of sanitary and epidemiological legislation). In addition, the screenings of «Artdokfest» films at the «Lendok» film studio were banned.

The closing of the festival was sharply condemned by film critics and directors. In particular, the editor-in-chief of the magazine «Art of Cinema» Anton Dolin called it censorship. Vice-Governor Boris Piotrovsky said, that the culture committee had agreed on the festival in advance.