"This movie will end in funeral"

In Russia, the Pussy VS Putin film is prohibited, in Europe it collects full halls and receives bonuses

The Russian Film Festival in Rotterdam was the Russian punk group Pussy Riot. Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, Maria Alekhina and Pyotr Verzilov presented the documentary Pussy VS Putin, telling about the history of the group, the recordings of their clips, the organization of punk-grain "The Virgin, Putin of the run" in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, the arrest of musicians and the trial of them. Two fragments from the incomplete sequel Pussy VS Putin 2 were also shown about what happened after the liberation of Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina from the camps. The first fragment is dedicated to the attack of young people with St. George ribbons on Pussy Riot participants in Nizhny Novgorod , the second - the clip of the clip "Putin will teach you the homeland in Sochi when the girls were beaten by the Cossacks . The first part of the Pussy VS Putin film, created by the Russian Gogol's Wives Productions, Russian team (Taisiya Kircular and Vasily Bogatov), received a reward at the documentary cinema festival in Amsterdam in 2013 . At the end of January, the film was held in Rome and other cities of Italy. In Russian cinemas, the film has never been demonstrated, and from the program of the St. Petersburg festival "Message to Man" it was excluded at the request of the Minister of Culture of Medinsky.

“Everything related to Pussy Riot is a real extreme: they beat, humiliate, insult you,” says Taisiya circular .

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Taisiya circular tells about the film Pussy VS Putin

- In Rotterdam, the hall gasped when he saw the Cossack whipping the girls with nagikes. There is another similar scene in your film: in Nizhny Novgorod, Pussy Riot is doused with green. You probably got into other similar alterations?

- Girls from their organizations " Zone of Law " went more than prisons than known in the media. This case with the green was more than once, there was still a case when we left the train and three guys splashed into us from the bottle: some eggs were mixed there, such a disgusting composition. These attacks took place much more often than the public knew, there was simply not enough strength and desire to write statements. If you do not perceive either the judicial or the prison system, why contact them?

- And when will your film be completed?

Even to emigrants who look good, go in fur coats, believe that Russia is free, Pussy Riot ideas act deadly

- We have a gigantic volume of materials. We plan, of course, to finish this movie, put an end. This is very sad, but I think that in the option in which Masha and Nadia exist now, their song is already sung. It is more impossible to deal with political actionism, they need to go to some area where they could be as beautiful as in their shares. We decided to bury them. The movie begins with the funeral and ends with the funeral. Only at the last moment from under the ground, like in idiotic horror films, a hand with a middle finger will break out, giving hope that actionism will not end, the cool idea of the Pussy Riot group will not remain underground.

- How many years have you been traveling in quality, Pussy Riot biographers ?

We usually show a movie under a blanket in our room, and here is such a palace, statues, carpets

- We started shooting even before the creation of Pussy Riot. For me, this is a terrible experience. Because, whoever is the Pussy Riot chronicle, whoever removes them, whoever drove them, Pussy Riot is always more than anyone. Vasya and I do not even write our names anywhere, only "Gogol's Wives". This is our absolutely conscious choice. We made the first part of the Pussy VS Putin film solely because we wanted to help girls when they were in prison. This movie could explain something or simply inspire people who could help. This film was collected and expanded by a community of like -minded people.

- On the day when your film was shown in Rotterdam, you were in Italy, and the picture also made a splash. Is it true that he was shown in one of the palaces on the Capitol Hill in Rome?

- We tried laughter for the sake of sending the film to the festival "Message to the Man", which takes place in St. Petersburg. There the film was prohibited. The Italians learned and say: "Oh, Basta, we will deal with it." Two months later, they said: "That's it, we agreed with the Capitol, you just have to come." I think: with what capital? Then I understand that Capitol is the place where Rome began to be built. How can this be? It turned out such a contrast: we usually show a movie under the blanket in our room, and here is such a palace, statues, carpets, polite gray -haired Italians, a huge number of students. How the window was opened to another world.

Flashmob in support of Pussy Riot in Rome

-And even a flash mob passed in support of both the film and the Pussy Riot group ...

The answer is very simple: if you do not want the second Hitler, then you can tolerate

- One girl began to sew Balaklava, she suffered, did not know how to cut her eyes correctly, her mouth. And the next morning, these balaclavs were about fifty. Several faculties of a local university came to show the film, they arranged such a flash mob, connecting it with Charlie Hebdo and with their local problems. Because we really wanted them to do something, it would be their own hatch of life, and not just ours.

- You said that you did not even call your names, but you performed in Italy and there were discussions with the audience. Surely you were asked not so much about cinema as about the political situation in Russia. What causes interest in the Italian public, are disputes, disagreements?

Taisiya circular presents the film Pussy vs Putin in Rome

- We had several impressions in Italy. One of the shows was in the church. Not where the flock includes, but a little nearby there was a small cinema, films in which two lesbians twist. I imagined that if it were in Moscow, they would have hung on the doors of their cinema for a long time. A huge number of people came to the show, there were a lot of adults, 70-year-old women and men, they all sat down on the steps and opened their mouths. I think: what a nightmare, they will now listen to two directors who came from Moscow. Of course, the majority of questions about politics, no one asks how we shot in the police department or how this piece with this is mounted. There was a question that Europe also suffers very much from sanctions, many have lost their business. That is, many are dissatisfied with this. The answer is very simple: if you do not want the second Hitler, then you can tolerate. There was an amazing show in Milan when three Russian women came. After the show, as soon as the light turned on, these women stood up, they did not contact us, but to the Italian public and said that Russia is a free country, if we don’t like something, then we can leave. However, they spoke for about half an hour. At some point, Vasya said into the microphone: "Finally, we feel at home." That is, even to emigrants who look good, go in fur coats, believe that Russia is free, Pussy Riot ideas act deadly, it excites them, it hurts them, all this works. The result of this conversation with these Russian women was a good result.

- From the grave in the final of the film there is a finger, demonstrating that actionism is alive. In Rotterdam, after the show of your film, I was at a concert of Russian groups, which, as Peter Verzilov said, belong to the great circle of Pussy Riot . Previously, there was a feeling that the Russian musicians shunned Pussy Riot (mainly out of envy, let's say honestly), but now it seems that a new movement of youth is being created around the group.

- Of course, let it all grow and expand in any direction. Let it get out of the sockets, it flows from the tap, that is, as much as possible any actions related to art. Because the most important, most useful and most necessary people in the world are artists.

Sasha from the Jack Wood group, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alekhina perform in Rotterdam

“But this is a dangerous activity.” After all, they doused with a pepper spray, and they whip with nagikes, and they pour alcohols into the eyes from the syringe. Is it scary to be next to Pussy Riot ?

Medinsky, seeing the mention of our film, asked not to show

- Katya Samutsevich said that they and Nadia began to make promotions only because they were scared. On each action, they simply checked how brave they were. I think they succeeded. The action in this establishment near the metro station "Kropotkinskaya" ( the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.-RS ) shows that they are heroes, the only women-heroes, there are no one else who could do the same. This is generally, it seems to me, the peculiarity of Russians is to do something good when you resist. As soon as they put pressure on you, you immediately begin to resist, otherwise you are passive, sit in front of the computer.

- You said that the film was prohibited at the “Message to Man” festival. Did they show him somewhere in Russia, they will show, or only “under the covers” can you see it?

- The situation with the film at the Message to Man festival was as follows: the film was originally taken, printed in the catalog, on the next page with Frederick Weisman - a great honor for us. I arrived there on the day of the show, and the organizers of the festival wrote a letter to me in which they reported that in the morning Medinsky, having read the press and saw in one of the articles the mention of our film, asked them not to show them. They were so kind that they could not refuse this person. The film was shot from the show.

- Without any explanation, excuses, despite the fact that the catalog was printed, the session was simply canceled?

-Of course, there are some backstage affairs there, because this was probably discussed, there was some kind of vote, but they decided not to show. I can understand people: if you have a sick mother, you need to earn money for medicines, then it is better to save mom than freedom of speech.

- Are there any other opportunities to watch a movie?

- We really want to put it on the network, just we need to complete the second part and lay out two parts together. This had to be done right away, put everything in open access on the first day. We just had a difficult situation with this film, no one was interested in ...

- ... until he was shown at the festival in Amsterdam and he did not receive a reward. After that, there were some shows in Russia in cinemas or is it excluded and are you not even trying to organize something?

- No, this is absolutely excluded. In Russia, there have never been shows anywhere else.

- Perhaps this is due to the fact that the name has the surname Putin, who scares even the most bold distributor?

- The fact is that the film does not give a firm position, a bad so -called president or good. The film is not about that at all, it has practically nothing to do with politics. But the power of naming works that way. Therefore, such a delicious name Pussy VS Putin. There is nothing to be afraid of. Cinema should be shown only because not to give him the opportunity to become even wider. As soon as they were banned at the festival in St. Petersburg, they immediately shown at the Capitols in Rome, that's the whole answer.

Flashmob in support of Pussy VS Putin in Rome

- Nadezhda Tolokonnikova said that in the camp the guards shot her continuously. And she hopes that someday, when the mode is replaced, these personnel can also be included in the next series " Pussy against Putin."

- The shooting of such films is an incredibly difficult matter. We must be very much to go out, manage to invent an artistic image that you cannot take off. We could never get inside the colony and shoot there. But we rode by car next to the colony and saw the funeral of the prisoner. And this cough stick, the coffin against the background of the Mordovian road begins to work stronger than the shooting of prisoners with plates on the chest. We must look for such things, we must understand that only a sore spot will work. As soon as you begin to integrate into the state system, make ordinary clips with texts and play chess on the same site as power, you will lose.

- A clip about a rally in support of Navalny on Manezhnaya Square you also shot, where Pussy Riot in the form of witches rush with brooms?

- It was an ordinary call to go to the square. It had to be done very quickly, in a few hours. Given that shooting requires so much time, installation requires so much time, an idea, so that it is clear, requires so much time, then such a quick video in three hours is a good result.

- There were no problems during the filming? After all, the area is patrolled around the clock.

- When you shoot such things, you already know in seconds what works and how it works. You know how many FSOs and where they are standing, you know how many seconds they will suit you, you know what to answer. Knowing all this, you can bypass these things somehow.

- Watch you and Pussy Riot ?

Everything is known, up to the kind of kindergarten, Nadia's daughter goes

- Phones obey, of course. That is, at any time you can contact the center for the fight against extremism. When my friends, directors, philosophers or writers call me, I love to talk to them as long as possible on the phone, because it has an educational function, some other people can hear this conversation.

- And the external observation?

“ I'm not sure that this is needed.” I think, and so everything is known, right up to what kind of kindergarten the daughter of Nadia goes, at what hours she goes, in what circles she walks and what drawings she draws. Therefore, there is no point in walking also.

- Let's say you agree on the filming of the film on Manezhnaya Square, they probably hear it, and what, they don’t follow you, do not follow?

- Of course, they are watching. A very good example with a video in Sochi, where about 50 people walked along the street. At the intersection, at the intersection ahead and on two neighboring streets there was constant observation. If we sit in a cafe, then all the cafes were occupied by the same type of Sochi who drank water at neighboring tables. Their only mistake is that they are not artists. If they were artists, they could defeat us. But they are simple guards.

-They are trying to do something artistic, dress up with roosters ... This is also actionism, only inside out.

If they were artists, they could defeat us. But they are simple guards

- All the actionism that the pro -government guys surrounding Pussy Riot is reproduced is called a simple word parasitization. We had such an interesting case in the Sochi cafe: we were surrounded by all these guys in black clothes, the guy was hooked from the next table and immediately invited us to treat us with vodka. After he sat down at the table, another twin of this guy approached us, and they began the conflict among themselves, touching the sitting at our table, trying to push one of the girls so that one of the men sitting at our table tried to protect her and climb a fight, provoked such a situation. But before that, when they sat down at the table, not getting acquainted with us, they already knew what our name was, they turned to us by name. In general, this is a wildly ridiculous and cool situation, I dream of making a film where patrols go for activists, these patrols do not have time to go quickly, at some of the intersections they ask activists to go a little slower, they agree, as if regretting the monitoring kagebashniks that follow. What is good Russia is that you don’t have to remove anything here, because reality has long surpassed all the ideas that you can have in your head.