Street of our Memory + All Other Things Equal + Holy God

The screening is followed by statements from the artist and activist Natalia Tikhonova and the Media Resistance Collective, presented by Mikhail Lylov 

If the history of the dissident movement and the history of the Gulag were taught in Russian schools, Russia might not be where it is today. If Ukrainian, Chechen, Georgian, Armenian, Belarusian, Tajik and Uzbek, Baltic, Finnish and Uralic languages were taught in Russian schools, Russia might not be where it is today. If feminist politicians dominated public thinking, we would not be talking about politics in terms of conflicts of interest between states or in terms of imperialist invasions. There would probably be less war crimes and no fascism, discrimination would not be promoted. Is it a coincidence that the hope of the broad anti-war protests in Russia rests on the mothers of future conscripts?

Street of our Memory
Tatjana Efrussi, Russia 2019, 23 min. Russian OV with English subtitles

“The film documents an event organized in December 2019 in Norilsk, Russia. Its central element was the guided bus tour around Sevastopolskaya street. In the 1940s, Sevastopolskaya was designed and built by the prisoners who were the main population of the Arctic camp-city. By the 1980s, a significant part of the original structures decayed and were demolished. The demolition provoked intense protest and debate among the Norilsk public, who still remember Sevastopolskaya’s houses and its atmosphere with nostalgia.” (Tatjana Efrussi)

All Other Things Equal
Anya Tsyrlina, Russia 2020, 20 min. without dialogue 

Short films presenting the ordinary and extraordinary lives of women were a staple of state-sponsored Soviet documentary production in the 1970s and 1980s. What can we see today in these films? Do these images contain an idea of equality in society, how do they relate to “western” feminist ideals, thoughts and principles?

Holy God
Vladlena Sandu, Russia 2020, 25 min. Russian OV with English subtitles

“A Self-portrait. In 1998 our family came under armed attack. We were able to escape and we fled Grozny (Chechnya). We have been silent about it since.” Vladlena Sandu tells an incisive and dignified story about herself, her mother and grandmother, the physical and psychological trauma and the ordinary existence of a refugee, including dog food, homelessness and intensive care. On New Year’s Day, Putin pays tribute to the soldiers who are “fighting terrorism” in the war in Chechnya.

Natalia Tikhonova is a multidisciplinary artist and researcher from St. Petersburg. She works with questions of memory, identity, as well as personal and political borders.

Media Resistance is a collective formed after the invasion of Ukraine to collect and propose strategies to support activists under political repression in Russia.