“Lump. Rebel. Anarchist"

Watch a documentary about Pavel Kushnir

The streaming platform Votvot released a documentary film by Sergei Erzhenkov “Kushnir”. This is the story of pianist, writer and anti-war activist Pavel Kushnir, who in 2024 was accused of calls for terrorism because of videos on a YouTube channel where during Kushnir’s lifetime there were only five subscribers. On July 28, 2024, he died in a Birobidzhan pre-trial detention center after a dry hunger strike.

According to documentarian Sergei Erzhenkov, he sees in his hero not a victim, but a rebel who was aware of his choice. “An exclusively “sacrificial” look, in my opinion, deprives Pavel of subjectivity, turns him into an extra in someone else’s play, where all the main roles are played by the tormentors,” the director writes in his Telegram channel. - This is not true. He was as free as a man born of a mortal woman can be. Lump. Rebel. Anarchist".

The hour and a half film is based on Kushnir's diaries. The composition of the film follows the structure of his unfilmed script “Six Tired,” where each chapter has its own color and sign. The musician's family allowed the authors to use his voice to voice the diaries: they did this with the help of artificial intelligence. “Looking ahead, this is the only thing that was generated in the film,” the director clarifies .

The film included archival footage, interviews with Kushnir’s friends and colleagues, including editor Dmitry Volchek, who was preparing his novel “Birobidzhan Diary” for publication together with the Meduza publishing house.

“The Birobidzhan Diary” is the last work of Pavel Kushnir, created in freedom. You can buy this book in our “Store”.

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