Event

THE TERM

Dirs. Alexey Pivovarov, Alexander Rastorguev, Pavel Kostomarov
2014, 83 min.
In Russian with English subtitles.

April 24 Q&A WITH MAX TUULA OF MARXFILM

This documentary follows the 2012 protests in Moscow following the re-election of Vladimir Putin. It opens on doomed romance: that of Solidarnost activist Ilya Yashin and Putins goddaughter Ksenia Sobchak. THE TERM gets close to many of the major opposition leaders in the streets, spending the most time with 2018 presidential hopeful Alexey Navalny. We share a car cabin with anti-Putin politician Ilya Ponomarev debating with Sobchak on the urgency of Putins overthrow. Sergey Udaltsov rides the subway, confidently joking that he will be the new president by the next stop. At a rally, far-right nationalist Alexander Potkin explains that Navalny can be trusted to a skeptical member of Russkiye. These are snapshots of the landscape leads up to the Bolotnaya Square protest: an event that resulted in jail sentences and exiles for some of the activists featured here and harsher penalties for many who are not.

THE TERM also features moments with Pussy Riot, Yoko Ono, and Madonna.