Nikolai Solodnikov’s film “In Your Dreams You Bitterly Wept,” starring Ivan Urgant, has been withdrawn from the 31st International Film Festival “Literature and Cinema.” The festival is scheduled to take place in Gatchina from June 17 to 21.

The festival’s press service verified the cancellation on June 6, citing the administration’s decision based on activist protests and the film’s lack of a distribution certificate.

A festival representative noted that the administration was not directly contacted by the activists.

Filming for “In Your Dreams You Bitterly Wept” concluded in September 2023.

Earlier in 2024, Vitaly Borodin, head of the Federal Project for Security and Combating Corruption, requested that the film be denied a distribution certificate.

The Ministry of Culture reported that they had not received a distribution certificate application for the film.

Ivan Urgant released a book called “Puffy Glands of Life,” which he described as a hoax. The film is based on this book which contains empty pages. Proceeds from sales of the book were intended for charitable donations.