Russian film director Nikita Mikhalkov
on Monday stated that gay marriage was bad for the cinema.
The 67-year-old Mikhalkov, head of the
Russian Cinematographers' Union, made his comments during a master
class for actors.
“When unnatural things become the
norm, what to expect from the cinema?” Mikhalkov is quoted as
saying by Interfax.
“I am against marriage between members of the same sex. Cinema
cannot be healthy and full of energy in a world where same sex
marriages are legal.”
Mikhalkov added that the normalization
of gay nuptials would lead to the extinction of the human race.
“It is a problem of human
self-extinction. I get the impression that it's treated as a joke.
I have nothing against gay people, it is a personal choice. But it
is the destruction of divine harmony and humanity,” he added.
Mikhalkov's 1994 film Burnt by the
Sun won the Grand Prize at Cannes and the Academy Award for Best
Foreign Language Film. Last month, he made a red carpet appearance
with Brad Pitt, a vocal supporter of marriage equality.