The case of the Seventh Studio - from Preobrazhenka to Avignon

Serebrennikov and Apfelbaum, it seems, will be given to read all 258 volumes

On July 9, the Moscow City Court completed the consideration of the appeals of Kirill Serebrennikov and Sofia Apfelbaum on the time of the time of acquaintance with the 258th volumes of the “Seventh Studio” (the so-called “theatrical business”).

This time-everything is different. The meetings began at exactly the appointed time. Gone quickly. There were eight television cameras to the court (and the support group for the summer was rather big). Kirill Serebrennikov in the final word said:

- We asked us to extend the opportunity to read this exciting business not for the sake of delaying. We have no delaying task at all. But it is impossible to have time to read 258 volumes in these terms - they have a lot of complex, requiring attention of economic documentation. Moreover, even from what we have read, a sufficiently large number of volumes becomes clear that in the economic aspect, only the activity of Mrs. Maslyaeva is interesting here. But she has already confessed to the investigation of the theft of money from the Platform.

It is already clear that there is no “theatrical business”. We did not steal anything. We did an honest project. More than 300 events. Their participants, interviewed by the investigation, confirm: yes, it was. Yes, it really went on stage. Yes, we received salaries. The closer to the final of reading, the more visible the far -fetched plot.

The invented plot, recall, is set out in 258 volumes.

Sofya Apfelbaum at the meeting (the appeal of the director and director Ramt was considered separately) once again explained that she reads many documents for the first time, since she did not work on the Platform project, but was only one of many employees of the Ministry of Culture, who studied and approved the reports of the “platform”. With a small part (two volumes), she is familiar. The material of the rest is completely new to her.

In both cases, the judges of the Moscow City Court quickly made the decision: to return the cases of familiarization of the investigation with materials to the Basmanny Court - for a new consideration.

In reality, this will give exactly those 3-4 weeks for which the defendants in the “theatrical business” will read their 258 volumes.

Moreover, more recently, the terms of the investigation in the case were extended by two months. It should be completed not on July 19, as expected, but on September 19.

Different reactions are caused by the “theatrical business”. On July 8, the 53rd Film Festival in Karlovy Vary was completed. The main prize in the section "East of the West" received the film by Elizabeth Stishova "Suleiman-Gora." The director from the scene announced that the cash content of the award (15,000 euros) will transfer to the parents of Oleg Sentsov and Kirill Serebrennikov.

On July 6, the 72nd Avignon festival opened in France. It is planned by the action “Freedom to Kirill Serebrennikov”-with the participation of the quartermaster of Avignon, the famous French director Olivier Pi, and other stars of Avignon-2018.

But a light shift of a long Moscow plot in the Basmanny court and the Moscow City Court towards common sense and recognition of the right to a serious study of their case, perhaps, is even more valuable.