Translated material
Their own, strangers and all
The first festival of Russian -language literature was held against the abolition of Russian culture
Collage: social networks
Shocks, grief, separation cannot be replenished with anything. But they can be slightly softened: new opportunities, turns of fate, serious experience. This applies not only to people, but also to books. Yes, in the last three years, Russian literature has been paying stubbornly on other people's bills. She was thrown out of all layouts, burned with scandals; They argue here whether Shishkin’s bonus* “Dar” is well invented, they spread rot for refusing to refuse . But she gained some additional experience.
Well, look: after the sunset of the outstanding project “Books in Parks” (the organizers began to sew the support of Navalny), the “average” writer could either go deep into Russia, and it was great, especially when the festivals were satisfied with the book genius Mikhail Faustov; Noisy, stupid, enthusiastic. Or as a “stranger” to fly abroad, when Russia was declared the main guest and turned into a colorful part of an alien, in fact, inaccessible life. Status, honorable, but formally. From the standpoint of the political task, everything is clear; From a literary point of view - no. The audience was reluctant to meet with official delegations, writers tried to attract her attention, it acquired parody forms.
Mikhail Meilay distributed in Frankfurt the slap in the face of literary enemies; The Russian party was indignant, the European did not give a damn about this provincial between the landscape. A certain famous writer, the author of outstanding cartoons, had been waiting for a long time in the empty and stuffy hall of the appearance of some readers; Without waiting for, he began to beat the chair, like a stretched tambourine, and sing the mournful songs into a microphone. Yevtushenko took the car from the Russian ambassador in Cuba and went to meet with dissidents. And Eduard Uspensky appeared in the Monkado fortress in a T -shirt with the inscription Che Burashka. Shirak and Putin in the Champs Elysees adopted a deputation of Russian writers; The writers in line were built by the leaders of Russian TV. When asked what they are doing here, they answered: “And we are children's writers. Fairytops "...
Since the spring of 2022, the situation began to change. They also let all writers into fairs in Russia, for the elect, the doors to the Book World of Europe were still open; The St. Petersburg Book Salon has not yet happened, where Maya Kucheskaya showed miracles of tolerance, withstanding the onslaught of provocateurs.
But it became clear that soon everyone would be divided into clean and unclean; The unclean will be exfoliated, and clean will be disinfected. Which happened, starting from the festival on Red Square, where a number of literary meetings were canceled and a writer's segregation began.
And it was impossible to imagine that independent sites for representing Russian literature would be considered in Europe.
And in 2024 in Prague, across the conversations about the abolition of Russian culture, the first festival of Russian-language literature was enchantically. In 2025, he repeated, also with brilliance. Following him, a few days later, a new festival launched in Amsterdam, organized by Vidim Books and surprisingly accurately called "in its own language." In what language? On his own. In such a festival, it is not shameful to participate in the Russian -speaking Belarusian prose writer Sasha Filippenko*, to perform Chulpan Khamatova and Olga Drobot ... If anything threatened him, in addition to high financial risks, this is the danger of a split and turning into a sect. When you are squeezed from different sides, who left for one, who remained for another, local communities for the third, refugees for the fourth, there is an inevitable desire to take a defensive position, turning into an offensive. Ah, you lay there under the mincifers. Ah, you are fat here. Ah, no one understands us. "In the struggle, you will find your right."
There was no defense or attack. There was joyful communication, frank, direct, not separating. Whatever the writers, artists and podcasters talk about, they every time went out on how to live and who is to blame is generally understandable. In the hall for more than a hundred and more places two mothers, who suddenly found themselves in exile (Vera Polozkova*, recognized as a terrorist, and actress Chulpan Khamatova), discussed how to cope with raising children. Priest Alexei Uminsky and the writer, “Ino-Agent” Alexander Arkhangelsky* affectionately argued about Pushkin, Metropolitan Filaret and whether writers could not be seduced by ideology. The author of the superpopular podcasts Andrei Aksenov, who, after an interview with “Inoagent” Dudu* knows everyone, played the game “Who would you be in the first Russian emigration”. And the folklorist, she is an anthropologist, she is also a philological writer, she is the “foreign Agent” Alexander Arkhipov* told how the AP training trains are built and why the warring power pays such attention to individual words ...
So far, some of the people with benefit and mental joy spent time in the main hall, the other was tensely listening to journalists of the “Ino-Agent” “Rain” of the “Ino-Agent” ** ** and, together with the “foreign agents” Mikhail Fishman* and Tikhon Dzyadko* sorted out whether the 93rd was inevitable and that the “new elites” were inherited. The third bargained the “extra ticket” for dinner with Anton Dolin* and breakfast with Sergey Nikolayevich*. And the fourth, the main one, leafed through the books and bought them - without stopping. The publishers fell down, but opened new cardboard boxes with freshly printed circulations and shone with real happiness: books with a whistle were carried away from the shelves.
It is clear that the emigrant publisher has ten times less an audience than the “mainland”. And selling a comparable number of specimens is the same as it is more difficult.
Sold. They outplayed their own benefits. By the way, both the children's literary platform and writers in which the children are in love helped - like the same Anna Starobinets. The children did not allow adults to be bred - as soon as they dived into a restaurant pour, outraged descendants came behind them and pulled them into the hall.
Once again: no foreign Kanseling, Emigrantschina and new searches of loyalty. Not a single bad word about those who remained in Russia, no self -truths for living in Europe; There is no need to blame, even if there is something to make excuses; Need to create. The author of the project, the co -founder of the publishing house, Alexander Gavrilov, devoted his whole life to the creation of contacts and providing verbal will. He and his team relied on the fact that visitors to the festival need the same thing; Not mistaken. Both festival days went into a happy crowd and seething; The organizers secretly said that for meetings, discussions, show, presentations were sold in the amount of 3,000 tickets.
But the festival is not only experiences, purchases and conversations, but also a intelligible plot, when a degree rises from episode to the episode, the code is approaching. But what kind of code should be if the background is Polozkov and Khamatov? What note should I take, what height to fly up? The festival found a solution. He closed by the show of the film theater director Krymov "Everything is fine." And the conversation that Nikolaevich conducted.
The film only pretends to be like playing the play on Anna Karenina, Seryozha. In fact, this is a separate statement, smart, subtle, tragic, to break. Stylized for the silent cinema, in which all the heroes speak without silent, the film was shot in 11 days and completed on February 22, 2022.
This is not a forecast, not a prediction, this is a prophecy. Which differs from the forecast the same as the genius from talent: talent paves the trajectory, and the genius does not know where he will float, but will be at the only possible point.
We understand where the hero of Anatoly Bely*, a real colonel. What will happen to his theater wife. Than sincere stupid actors finish. What is the question - how the director refers to the position of his other favorites, he will answer "I cry." But we do not know how we will live on - then. Or maybe this is not necessary - to know? Just make life potentially possible. At least in the space of the book. With a theater and cinema. Where everything is for a break - and nothing to a split.
Angelina Arkhipova