“I want to show things how they are.” Meet Maria (Masha) Alyokhina of the Russian activist movement Pussy Riot, who has been protesting against the regime of Vladimir Putin through public, colourful and non-violent actions for over a decade. “The system pretends to have a serious face. That’s how they want the fear to go inside you and paralyse you. And we believe that the smile and humour break this fear.” Maria Alyokhina describes today’s Russia as a totalitarian regime and the development since 2012 as “the road to hell”, reaching a low point with the attack against Ukraine in 2022.
When Maria Alekhina and other members of the Pussy Riot group were tried for an action in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Orthodox activist Dmitry Enteo strongly advocated punishing the girls. Now Alekhina and Enteo spend a lot of time together. Last week, with activists from The Other Russia, they went to the Ministry of Justice to conduct a public Bible reading — as a demonstration of their constitutional right to read the Holy Scriptures (and any other books) in public — without permission from officials.
Russian activists Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samutsevich decide to separate from the well-known activist group Voina and create their own group named Pussy Riot that would express their ideas of female independence, combining activism, feminism, and punk rock music. Their defeat in court becomes their moral victory, as Pussy Riot are cheered on by thousands of their new-found fans.
This chronicle of Russian musical group Pussy Riot explores how they morphed from an obscure feminist protest band to an international cause celebre.
"Puss Riot and other sins" - The Putin system is taking on more and more features of the Soviet system. The big fear and paranoia returns.
In the winter of 2011, after a controversial election, Vladimir Putin was reinstalled as president of Russia. In response, hundreds of thousands of citizens rose up all over the country to challenge the legitimacy of Putin’s rule. Among them were a group of young, radical-feminist punk rockers, better known as Pussy Riot. Wearing colored balaclavas, tights, and summer dresses, they entered Moscow’s most venerated cathedral and dared to sing “Mother Mary, Banish Putin!” Now they have become victims of a “show” trial.
Pussy Riot: The Movement embarks on the odyssey of the girls who rocked a country and continue to fight for human rights throughout the world. Documentary follows Masha Alyokhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina Samutsevich through their harsh two year sentences for playing music to their freedom. What started as a punk rock collective has catapulted to a world movement for human rights.
Maria Vladimirovna "Masha" Alyokhina is a Russian political activist. She is a member of the anti-Putinist protest punk rock group Pussy Riot.
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