The film Rocketman , about the life of Elton John, has been censored in Russia. This decision is now rejected by the singer and others involved in the production.
In the version that was launched in Russia, about five minutes were cut out of the film. This includes scenes in which men kiss and have sex with each other and a photo of John and his husband David Furnish has been removed from the credits.
In a statement, the Rocketman team stated that they had not been aware of this modified version until Friday.
“The fact that the Russian distributor has edited certain scenes, depriving the public of the opportunity to see the film as it was intended, is a sad reflection of the divided world we still live in. It shows that the world is still so cruel may be that the love between two people is not accepted, ” write John and his colleagues.
In the open letter, the writers state that they believe in an open conversation with Russian distributors. “We will keep trying to break through barriers until all people around the world can be heard.”
Russian Culture Minister Vladimir Medinski said in a reaction earlier that the censorship is a decision of the distributor.
Rocketman is not the only movie that recently cut scenes. For example, in the Chinese version of the Queen film Bohemian Rhapsody, homosexuality is not mentioned, despite the fact that this is one of the important themes in the film.