Russian streaming services censor Canadian film ‘The Nature of Love’ to remove a scene that mentions Ramzan Kadyrov as a ‘dictator’

Russian streaming services have censored the 2023 Canadian French-language film The Nature of Love, removing dialogue that describes Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov as a “dictator” and changing another line to conceal a character’s homosexuality. 

There is a scene in Monia Chokri’s romantic comedy-drama where a husband and wife stroll through a park, discussing their “favorite dictators,” Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov and Turkmenistan’s Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow (who stepped down as president in March 2022 to enter a power-sharing arrangement with his son, Serdar, the current president).

In the version available on Russian streaming services, the following dialogue has been removed:

Later in the movie, the Russian version alters another scene, changing one character’s line from “I’m a 42-year-old gay man” to “I’m as good a man as they come.”