Venice Film Festival artistic director Alberto Barbera has publicly defended the decision to include Russian filmmaker Ilya Khrzhanovsky's "DAU" in this year's competition lineup, following criticism from Ukrainian officials. In an Instagram post, Barbera rejected accusations that the film amounted to pro-Putin propaganda, calling it instead a work that "denounces totalitarian regimes and their intrusion into citizens' lives," and accused critics of running a "smear campaign" against a film they had not seen.

The backlash began with a joint statement from Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Culture and its embassy in Italy, warning that platforming a project "linked to the Russian state" sent a troubling signal amid the ongoing war, and highlighting ties between lead actor Teodor Currentzis and Vladimir Putin, plus funding from sanctioned Russian businessman Sergei Adoniev. Barbera countered that Khrzhanovsky is a Russian dissident blacklisted by the regime as a terrorist and has opposed the invasion of Ukraine from the outset. He also noted that "DAU" was filmed in Kharkiv between 2008 and 2011, a decade before the 2022 invasion, and was partly funded by Ukraine's own State Film Agency; it is the third instalment in a planned 14-film series and will compete for the Golden Lion in September.