PROTEST MATCH: Democracy and Media in Russia
As Time magazine names Vladimir Putin the person of the year, we’d like to offer the film “Protest Match” by Dmitry Vilensky as it follows the particular brew that is Russian democracy.
Some of the key news in 2007 coming from Russia were the violent deaths of Putin critics Anna Politkovskaya and Alexander Litvinenko, Garry Kasparov a leader of an opposition party was arrested, and United Russia, Putin’s party, won with overwhelming success in the dubious parliamentary elections.
The TIME article is not fittingly critical and even despite the fact that TIME does not consider it an endorsement, you get a pretty benevolent picture of the Russian leader, whose ideas on civil liberties are “different” from ours.
Adolf Hitler was TIME’s person of the year in 1938, Joseph Stalin in 1939, Ayatullah Khomeini in 1979. Should 2007 cover come as a serious warning?
In 2006 Russia held G8 summit. In fear of protests, the Russian government tricked activists into gathering at a designated location, the Kirov Stadium, where activists found themselves locked up and practically unable to do anything.
Dmitry Vilensky of the art collective Chto delat/What is to be done? filmed this (non)event. His camera absorbed the frustration of the activists and raised questions about democracy in present day Russia, media independence, the role of journalism today as well as the political underpinning of art.
Alexandra Lerman is ScribeMedia.Org’s Arts and Culture Editor. She is also a video artist, VJ and the founder of Ambitious Outsiders Collective.
Alexandra Lerman is ScribeMedia.Org's Arts and Culture editor. She is also a video artist, VJ and the founder of the Ambitious Outsiders Collective.
Discussion
No comments for “PROTEST MATCH: Democracy and Media in Russia”
Post a comment