Tsar’s lover film blamed for studio arson attack

Russian film director Alexei Uchitel has urged state security to protect cinemagoers after an arson attack on his studio over a controversial film about Tsar Nicholas II.

Two assailants threw Molotov cocktails through windows of his studio in Saint Petersburg on Thursday. Uchitel said the attack followed harassment over his unreleased film Matilda, which focuses on Nicholas II’S relationship with ballerina Mathilde Kschessinska.