The machine is absurd

The journalist, saying goodbye to an interview with the Ukrainian film director after the premiere of his film, says: "It is interesting that you will answer my question after 20 years." An innocent phrase now sounds ominous, because the film director is sentenced to twenty years of camps and is serving a term in Siberia.

A fragment of an interview with this ominous prophecy begins the documentary “process. Russian state against Oleg Sentsov”, which will become one of the main events of the Artdocfest-2017 festival.

Director Askold Kurov worked for two years on the film about how, after the annexation of Crimea, the Russian special services were seized, accused of terrorism and judged his colleague Oleg Sentsov. The name of the film reminds of Kafka’s novel - Askold Kurov is sure that Sentsov’s case is completely fabricated: there is no evidence that Oleg headed the terrorist organization in Crimea.

The term - 20 years - is not terrible for me. I know that the era of the reign of a bloody dwarf in your country will end earlier

Sentsov himself also does not admit guilt. At the court, held in Rostov, he said that he was tortured during the detention. The main witness of the prosecution Gennady Afanasyev also spoke about how the FSB officers also knocked out. He admitted that he slandered Sentsov under torture, but the court ignored the court. “A great betrayal sometimes begins with a small cowardice ... When you put a bag on your head, they beat a little, and after half an hour you are ready to renounce all your beliefs, to stipulate yourself in anything, to stipulate other people, only to stop hitting. I don’t know what your beliefs can cost if you are not ready to suffer or die ... ”, Oleg Sentsov said in the last word in the Rostov process.

The famous words of Oleg Sentsov sounded in the film, which sounded in the courtroom: "The term - 20 years - is not terrible for me. I know that the era of the Bloody dwarf reign in your country will end earlier."

The premiere of the "process" took place in February 2017 at the Berlin Film Festival. A special show was organized together with the achievement of the liberation of Oleg Sentsov by the European Film Academy.

The “process” was shot by the Russian director, but made in the Czech-Polish-Estonian co-products: in today's Moscow, no one dared to sponsor the film about the FSB fabricated by the FSB.

Askold Kurov told Radio Liberty about how he shot this film.

-Probably, we can say that the “process” is a story about evil Rock, when, due to a combination of circumstances, the fantasy of the provincial investigator, a person is drawn into a meat grinder, and nothing can pull him out, neither protests, nor an international campaign ...

- Yes, this is an absurd machine that acts according to a completely incomprehensible ordinary person logic. She is really like rock that cannot be defeated. Yes, the film is also about this.

- Was it hard to shoot? Watched you, interfered?

This is very similar to the tragedy of the times of the Stalinist repressions

- No, there was nothing like that. It was difficult to then organize and correctly balance in the composition, because I wanted to tell about a lot at once - about Oleg as a person and director, and about his relatives, and about this in fact and the process, and about the context in which all this happens. It was probably the most difficult.

- Not only Oleg is the hero of the film, but also his relatives: first of all, his cousin Natalya Kaplan, who led the struggle for his liberation. At the same time, Galina’s own sister actually renounced from Oleg, because her husband and son are the FSB officers, she, as they say, “Crimean,” and her husband testified against Sentsov. Here is such a family tragedy, among other things.

- Yes, it is very similar to the tragedy of the times of the Stalinist repressions. I do not know whether she is a “Crimean” is she, but I understand that she is in a difficult situation, between two lights. But it is true that she does not support Oleg and accuses Oleg of this situation. Natalia Kaplan, Oleg's cousin, took upon itself all the responsibilities for organizing and advocacy and support shares.

“She is a fearless person, and this is visible in the film.” But it seems that almost no one helps her.

- Of course, she has friends and acquaintances, and Oleg's friends who help a lot, the filmmakers who support, the European movie academy. There are people who are ready to provide support. But still, the main load at that moment, of course, fell on her shoulders.

Natalia Kaplan and mother Oleg Sentsova. Frame from the movie "Process"

- Oleg has two children, the son suffers from autism, they live with his mother, judging by the film, in rather constrained circumstances, in the Crimea. I don’t know if they are pursuing them there, for sure there is such a zone of alienation ...

The husband and son of the native sister Oleg - the FSB officers themselves

-As far as I know, they have no problems and persecution in the Crimea, and in general there is some kind of unspoken rule for special services-not to touch relatives and relatives. Moreover, really the husband and son of Oleg’s sister are the FSB officers themselves. And in fact, there is no such distress. Children live for the most part with Oleg's sister, with Galya. Moreover, she does not support Oleg himself, but children are children, so she completely took care of them.

Frame from the movie "Process"

- The verdict was known before the start of the process, already at the investigation stage they announced to Oleg that it would be 20 years old, but at the same time, formalities were carefully observed at the trial, up to the point of absurdity: they ask Russian -speaking defendants, whether they need a Russian translator, for example. In Stalin's times, sometimes something similar happened sometimes.

There was a complete feeling that it was a theater, judges simply play roles according to a previously written scenario

-Yes, and throughout the process, especially in Rostov, they were extremely polite, correct, observed all the protocols, but at the same time there was a complete feeling that it was some kind of theater, judges simply play roles according to a previously written scenario, the court itself-these are such scenery. For all the absurdity of the prosecution and despite the fact that not a single serious evidence of Oleg or Alexander Kolchenko was represented, there was a feeling that it was such a theater. Yes, and in Stalin's times, apparently, it was important. I thought that at some point the judicial mantles returned to the Soviet courts, apparently in order to emphasize the legitimacy, continuity with Roman law or something else. Here it is also very important that it is formally similar to justice.

- Did you shoot the whole process in Rostov?

- Yes, I completely removed the process. Of course, there was no way to shoot everything directly in the courtroom, but the meetings were broadcast to monitors in the corridor and most of the materials were removed from these monitors.

Berlin poster of the film "Process"

- What episodes of the trial seemed to you the most impressive?

He was beaten, strangled with a plastic bag

- Of course, the recognition of Afanasyev. Gennady Afanasyev - one of the two main witnesses who testified against Oleg, suddenly in court, when everyone was preparing that he would confirm the testimony, made statements that these testimonies were given to them under the investigation, under torture, he was abandoning them. Then it was a shock, it was clear how scared he was that he prepared for the worst for him. This really could mean anything, up to physical elimination in some way. Indeed, he risked very much, and therefore this excitement was transmitted to everyone then in the hall. Of course, this had no consequences, no one conducted an investigation about torture. Nevertheless, it was probably the strongest moment.

- All detainees were tortured, and Sentsov too. Everyone was cruelly beaten immediately after the detention in the Crimea.

He was put on a gas mask on his head, squeezed, he began to choke, sprayed with some kind of liquid, from which vomiting began

- Oleg said about the beating from the very beginning, about the fact that he was beaten, about the fact that he was strangled with a plastic bag. But in Rostov, we heard Afanasyev’s testimony with a description of these torture-he was put on a gas mask on his head, squeezed, he began to choke, sprayed with some liquid from which vomiting began, this vomiting was choked on the gas mask. Or attached electric wires and launched an electric current, including through the genitals ... Just the hair on his head stood on end. I did not even imagine that such torture was. It's really scary. I don’t know who could withstand this, who would not break, who would not specify under such torture of himself or others.

- What other important episodes were on the process?

- This is the last word of Oleg and Oleg’s speech in general. It was evident that he was preparing for them, hesitated everything, and this was, of course, not so much an appeal to the court as to the audience, to those who wanted to hear what he was thinking about it. His call not to be afraid of many made an impression. In Rostov, after his last word, a few days later I saw a girl, an activist who came to the court in a T -shirt with a quote from Sentsov "Why raise a new generation of slaves." Indeed, his speeches dispersed to quotes.

- He is a charming person - this is visible in the film, and a fearless person: how he holds in a cage in the process, no traces of despondency ...

In court, he seemed a much more free person than we, who were on the other side of this cage

- Indeed, he is a very brave and strong person. But still he went through a lot, and through fear, this fear is visible in some frames. The first days after the detention, the operational shooting of the FSB, it is clear that he overcomes it. Of course, he had depression. In court, at least, he did not give a look and seemed a much more free person than we, who were on the other side of this cage made of glass.

Lawyer Dmitry Dinze shows Oleg Sentsov a book of his stories, published in Ukraine

- In the film you are trying to figure out the circumstances of the matter. Were any serious terrorist attacks planned, and who planned them? Because the FSB stated that they were going to blow up bridges, railways, as in 1937 almost a tunnel from Bombay to London to dig. What really happened?

- There were two arson (in the first case - the office of United Russia, in the second - the Russian community of Crimea), which were made by different people, but in both episodes, Alexei Chirniy participated, one of the convicts in this case. Actually, this is not terrorism, in the normal case, the court would consider this as hooliganism.

- No one was injured, and there was no damage to the serious ...

It was necessary to create a big loud business about the whole terrorist group associated with the "right sector"

- There is penny damage, since there is security, these arson were extinguished literally within a couple of minutes. Alexei Chirnovy said that this is not enough, it was necessary to arrange some noisy actions, he began to plan the explosions of the monument to Lenin at the railway station and the eternal fire memorial in Simferopol. For this, he turned to his old acquaintance, a chemical student of a local university Alexander Pirogov so that he would make two explosive devices. Pirogov first went to self -defense, he was redirected to the FSB. He came to the FSB, wrote a statement in which he spoke about this request of Chirniya. The FSB was instructed, provided with a hidden camera with a microphone, for the next meeting with Chirniy he went with a hidden camera, recorded their conversation completely, conveyed to the FSB. The FSB themselves made the dummies of these explosive devices, some canists stuffed with salt. When Chirny took them, he was detained. Nowhere was said either in the news or in a press release of the FSB that it was a dummy. The FSB tried to make a big business about the terrorist group, although in this operational shooting on a hidden camera, neither Sentsov, nor Kolchenko, nor Afanasyev were mentioned in any way, but on the contrary, Alexei Chirniy stated that this was his own project. Apparently, it was not enough just to catch a not very adequate person, but it was necessary to create a big loud business about the whole terrorist group, not only that, connected with the “right sector”, whose leadership is located in Kyiv - these are participants in the Maidan, almost the Ukrainian government. We decided to appoint the rest of the participants and the leader. Oleg said at the very beginning, that after torture, after he refused to admit that he had at least some relation to these preparing explosions, he was told: then you will become the leader of this community and sit for 20 years. So it happened. There is no absolutely evidence of his participation and involvement in this.

Director Askold Kurov

- There is one important detail that he did not find absolutely nothing in the search, and then for the second time they suddenly found a gun wrapped in a movie newspaper.

- Indeed, during the first search, which was carried out in the presence of Oleg, they did not find anything criminal. They tried to withdraw everything that came to hand, including wheels with the film "Ordinary Fascism", which supposedly testifies to Oleg's belonging to the "Law Sector". They even seized the script of the film "Rogor", since the film is about the bandits, some kind of weapon is mentioned there, they saw that this could also somehow indicate its involvement. There was no material evidence. The second time, when the search was carried out without Oleg, they found a Makarov pistol and a grenade wrapped in Cinemotion about the film industry. As Oleg said in the process: "They could wrap in the poster of my film so that there was no doubt left that it belongs to me."

Johnny Depp supported Oleg Sentsov

- Now Sentsov in Siberia. What is known about the conditions of content?

- He is in Yakutsk, he see only with a lawyer and relatives. Dmitry Dinze was with him at the end of last year. There, of course, difficult climatic conditions, very cold, reaches minus 50. But in general, he does not experience any pressure. Oleg wrote five scripts for films during this time. He does not lose heart, does not despair, continues to work, think and hope. We also hope that he can soon go out and continue.

- He knew about the shooting of your film?

- Yes, he knew from the very beginning about the filming of the film. I asked him through a lawyer to meet with his relatives, children.

- Why do you think they are not released? When Savchenko was changed, there were rumors that the exchange was already ready. Do you know what has broken?

Keep for some valuable exchange, it is a bargaining coin

- No, nothing is known at all. Yes, rumors constantly arise. Each time it is said about a very imminent liberation, or exchange, or extradition, but everything ends with nothing. It was really strange after Savchenko was exchanged, after Gennady Afanasyev was exchanged, thank God, it seemed that it was soon. But, apparently, he and Kolchenko are simply kept for some valuable exchange, perhaps not on Russian prisoners, but on some kind of links of sanctions or just improving the image at a convenient occasion. At the moment, he, I think, is a bargaining coin.

- Obviously, the decision depends on one person, and without Putin’s sanction, nothing will be done here.

-Yes, so Sokurov begs Putin, there is this episode in the film, asks him to act in a Christian and Russian, but he answers him that the court decides everything, although this is not so.

- And it is clear how Putin does not like this conversation.

- Of course, I don't like it. I think that he often hears (from Russian filmmakers it is unlikely that anyone except Sokurov will dare and simply have the opportunity to ask such a question), but probably this issue is constantly raising, and not the first time.

- The last question that could be the first: why did you decide to shoot this film?

-It so happened that I met Oleg six years ago-it was 2011, I shot my first film then, and Oleg made a film, he saw my film somewhere on the Internet, found me on Facebook, wrote, we met him, began to correspond with him, and then met the first and only time in Moscow, when he arrived at the prime minister of Gamer. Then we talked by correspondence, the second time we saw ourselves when Oleg was already in court. I went to the first trial as his acquaintance to support him, then I realized that the only thing I can do in this situation was to make a movie about this.