What’s the catch?

In Russia’s Saratov region, the authorities’ response to a film about housing shows art can still shame the government into action

Last month, a team of filmmakers led by journalist Andrey Loshak released a documentary about life in a deteriorating public housing complex in Russia’s Saratov region. The goal of the project, according to Loshak, was to highlight the “insanity” of the Kremlin’s decision to wage war in Ukraine, given that much of Russia’s infrastructure “lies in ruins.” In a surprise to the director himself, the film spurred the government to address problems highlighted in the documentary. Meduza explains how the situation unfolded and why the filmmakers are still waiting for the other shoe to drop.

In mid-October, journalist Andrey Loshak released a new documentary called “Pentagon.” The film focuses on the lives of the people living in the building from which it takes its title, a dilapidated public housing complex in the town of Novouzensk in Russia’s Saratov region. Over four installments, viewers meet the residents of an all-but-forgotten structure in which sewage empties into the basement, rainwater leaks in through the roof, and none of the units have heating.

On the day after the release of the documentary’s first episode, the local branch of the Russian Investigative Committee announced that it had “become aware of a video” that talks about the “unlivable” conditions in the Pentagon housing complex. The following day, the Investigative Committee announced that its head, Alexander Bastrykin, was personally overseeing an investigation into the situation. Later that month, members of the Novouzensk town administration were charged with criminal negligence.

The film also caught the attention of the Saratov region’s governor, Roman Busargin, according to the local news outlet Region 64. About a week and a half after the town officials were charged, a repair crew arrived to restore the inside of the building. The Saratov government has also made an estimate for the cost of cosmetically renovating the building, according to Region 64, and plans to include it in the regional repair budget.

The producer of “Pentagon,” Irina Filippova, told Meduza that electricians are currently at work repairing the lighting in the building’s basement. She also said the local authorities came to meet with the building’s residents before the renovation work began. “It’s obvious that this is a reaction to the film; it’s not like the residents wrote a letter [to the authorities],” she said. The government’s rapid response to the crisis following the documentary’s release came as a surprise to the film crew; just like the people featured in the movie, they were worried the situation might only get worse after the film came out. Director Andrey Loshak told Meduza:

To me, it was very important to show how people actually live in a country where the authorities have so lost their sanity that they’ve ventured into another country to bomb people and liberate them — all while much of Russia lies in ruins. I wanted people who watch the movie to come to this simple conclusion. Honestly, the positive changes in the lives of our subjects came as a surprise to me.

The residents of the “Pentagon” receive housing there under a social rental agreement with the state. Many of them live near or below the national poverty line, earning between 5,000 (around $53) and 15,000 rubles (around $160) per month. After the documentary was released, its creators started a chat group called Help the Pentagon, where people can donate money to the residents. It currently has more than 1,000 members.

“I’ve always had faith in civil society, but the decent reaction by the authorities is truly something I didn’t expect,” said Andrey Loshak:

I’m still waiting for the catch, or to learn it was a setup; we’ve become so accustomed to the idea that the authorities will try to escalate their repressions, not genuinely try to solve a problem. We’ll see how this all ends. The last thing I expected was a happy ending, but so far, that’s how everything is unfolding for the Pentagon.