05/12/2002 - The director of Russian Ark withdraws from European Film Awards on 7 December and resigns from the Academy

Russian film director, Aleksandr Sokurov announced his refusal of the two EFA nominations his film, Russian Ark [+see also:
trailer
film profile], scheduled to be presented on 7 December in Rome. Sokurov, who was also nominated for an Oscar for best direction and photography, said he does not feel at home with film awards and declared that it was simply not possible to judge a film according to specific criteria, but only by looking at the film as a whole.
Sokurov presented Russian Ark out of competition at the last edition of the Cannes Film Festival. He officially asked the European Academy to remove his name from the list of nominees. This is a precedent in the history of the EFAs and indeed Sokurov's request was turned down. The director reacted by resigning from the European Film Academy.