Tag Archives: russia

Watch a Social Screening of Putin’s Kiss on Monday

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A social screening of the ITVS-funded documentary Putin’s Kiss will take place on Monday, July 9 at 1pm PT / 4pm ET. Filmmaker Lise Birk Pedersen will be online and fielding questions from viewers. Monday’s event will take place here.

Nashi is an increasingly popular political youth organization in Russia with direct ties to the Kremlin. Officially, its goal is to support the current political system by creating a future elite among the brightest and most loyal Russian teenagers. But the organization also works to prevent the political opposition from spreading their views among young people. 16-year-old Masha Drokova, a Nashi commissar and spokesperson, is an ambitious middle-class student from the outskirts of Moscow. After joining Nashi at the age of 15, she moves to the very top of the organization, and is rewarded for her dedication with a university scholarship, an apartment, and even a pro-Putin talk show.

Everything changes when Drokova becomes acquainted with a group of liberal journalists, including popular anti-Putin reporter Oleg Kashin. At first, she remains devoted to Nashi while pursuing tentative friendships with its left-wing critics — but when Kashin is brutally beaten by “unknown perpetrators,” she has a genuine change of heart and decides to take a stand.

Watch a clip of the documentary after the jump. Continue reading →

Putin’s Kiss, Sunday on Global Voices

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The ITVS-funded documentary Putin’s Kiss by Lise Birk Pedersen airs Sunday, July 1 on Global Voices on the WORLD Channel.

Nashi is an increasingly popular political youth organization in Russia with direct ties to the Kremlin. Officially, its goal is to support the current political system by creating a future elite among the brightest and most loyal Russian teenagers. But the organization also works to prevent the political opposition from spreading their views among young people. 16-year-old Masha Drokova, a Nashi commissar and spokesperson, is an ambitious middle-class student from the outskirts of Moscow. After joining Nashi at the age of 15, she moves to the very top of the organization, and is rewarded for her dedication with a university scholarship, an apartment, and even a pro-Putin talk show.

Everything changes when Drokova becomes acquainted with a group of liberal journalists, including popular anti-Putin reporter Oleg Kashin. At first, she remains devoted to Nashi while pursuing tentative friendships with its left-wing critics — but when Kashin is brutally beaten by “unknown perpetrators,” she has a genuine change of heart and decides to take a stand.

Watch a clip of the documentary after the jump. Continue reading →

My Perestroika Premieres Tuesday Night on P.O.V.

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My Perestroika paints a complex picture of the dreams and disillusionment of those raised behind the Iron Curtain. Robin Hessman’s documentary premieres on P.O.V., Tuesday, June 28 at 10 PM (check local listings).

When the USSR broke apart in 1991, a generation of young people faced a new realm of possibilities. Filmmaker Robin Hessman follows this last generation of Soviet children brought up behind the Iron Curtain. Using a wealth of rare Russian footage, My Perestroika weaves an intimate view of the past with the contemporary lives of a married couple and their childhood friends — telling the story of a nation still very much in transition.

My Perestroika premieres on P.O.V., Tuesday, June 28 at 10 PM (check local listings).  Watch the trailer after the jump>> Continue reading →

The Desert of Forbidden Art Arrives in Los Angeles

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Coming to Independent Lens on April 5, The Desert of Forbidden Art opens in Los Angeles on Friday, March 18 at the Laemmle Theatres.

The documentary by filmmakers Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev tells the incredible story about a group of visionary Soviet-era artists and one man who risked his life to rescue their work.

The art exhibited in the film was featured earlier this month in The New York Times.

 

The Desert of Forbidden Art Opens in New York

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Documentary on Russian Art will air April 5 on Independent Lens

The Desert of Forbidden Art, by filmmakers Amanda Pope and Tchavdar Georgiev tells the incredible story about a group of visionary Soviet-era artists and one man who risked his life to rescue their work.

Coming to Independent Lens on April 5, the documentary has its theatrical release in New York starting on Friday at the Cinema Village.

For background, check out this recent feature in The New York Times.