Russia
More Alive Than The Living: Putin’s Olympic Dream
By George Symonds “We used to say health to the people. Now we say health to the rich only.” On Monday 3 February 2014, the Frontline Club screened the UK premier of Putin’s Olympic Dream. Director Hans Pool shone light onto the crooked nature of Putin’s very own “fake smile.” Behind the facade of the […]
UK Premiere: Putin’s Olympic Dream + Q&A
Ahead of the 2014 Olympic Games, the city of Sochi underwent drastic transformations. This nostalgic Soviet holiday resort, filled with gorgeous sanatoriums, had to become a modern Russian city. With no time to lose, everything and everyone had to give way in order to turn President Putin’s status project into a success. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Hans Pool.
The Sochi Project: Documenting the run up to the 2014 Winter Olympics in a city with no snow
by Sally Ashley-Cound In 2007, what would become the most expensive Olympic Games in history was announced. Sochi, on the banks of the Black Sea and known as the Florida of Russia – complete with palm trees and sandy beaches – would host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. The story caught the attention of filmmaker […]
Pussy Riot: Punk Rock, Orthodox Christianity, and the Russian Courts
By Daniel Alan Kennedy Less than two weeks after Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova ended her hunger strike against the conditions in her Mordovian prison, on 14 October 2013, filmmakers Maxim Pozdorovkin and Mike Lerner held a Q&A following the screening of their documentary, Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer. The film tracks the journeys of […]
In the Picture: The Sochi Project with Rob Hornstra and Arnold van Bruggen
Rob Hornstra and Arnold van Bruggen have been working together since 2009 to tell the story of Sochi, Russia, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. In a talk chaired by BBC Radio Current Affairs presenter Lucy Ash, they will present images from The Sochi Project, speak about the wider Caucasus region and its contrast with the glamour of the Olympic Games. They will also be discussing their approach to self-publishing.
Screening: Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer + Q&A
On 21 February 2012 Russian feminist punk group Pussy Riot performed a 40 second ‘punk prayer’ on the altar of Moscow’s most esteemed cathedral. Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer closely follows the trial that followed, where three members stand accused of “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred”. Through incredible access to the legal system, they show the courtroom where Nadia, Masha and Katia sit incarcerated in a small booth, articulately defending their actions. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with directors Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin.
Khodorkovsky: A Decade Behind Bars
October will mark the tenth year that Mikhail Khodorkovsky has spent behind bars. Once Russia’s richest and most successful businessman, he was arrested and imprisoned a decade ago, on charges that many regard as politically motivated. We will be examining the Khodorkovsky case and, following the charges against Alexei Navalny, we will be looking at the wider issue of imprisonment of opposition figures in Russia.
Fortress – Glimpses into Transnistria
By George Symonds On Wednesday 19 June, the Frontline Club audience burst into spontaneous applause to the precision choreography of a Transnistrian military parade. The footage was part of the documentary film Fortress, shown at the preview screening of Open City Docs Fest, supported by the Czech Centre London as part of One World Echoes in London. […]
Screening: Fortress + Q&A
Over 20 years after the collapse of the Soviet Union directors Klára Tasovská and Lukáš Kokeš travel back in time on their visit to the unrecognised Pridnestrovian Moldovian Republic. A separatist region within Moldova with its own passports and stamps, an elected president and a legal system. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Lukáš Kokeš.
Creating a new society: Russia from 1960 to 1990 and beyond
by Sally Ashley-Cound On Thursday 18th April at the Frontline Club, authors Irina Prokhorova and Oliver Bullough talked about their experiences of Russia which have informed the research and writing of their two very different books. Prokhorova’s book 1990: Russians Remember a Turning Point charts the missing year after 1989 when the Soviet empire fell […]
Russia’s surveillance state
The surveillance culture in Russia is well documented. In the digital age as we see more protests on the streets of Moscow and elsewhere the FSB (the successor to the KGB) are developing new surveillance technologies. We will be joined by those involved in a new project called Russia’s Surveillance State and other experts to discuss the surveillance practices in Russia and how they are developing.
Documenting the world through short films
By Joëlle Pouliot On March 14, the audience at the Frontline Club travelled around the globe through five short films. All documentaries were related to current affairs, but the styles of storytelling ranged from comedy and animation, to the more classical approach.
A portrait of Russia with Irina Prokhorova and Oliver Bullough
Irina Prokhorova, founder and editor-in-chief of New Literary Observer, and Oliver Bullough, Caucasus editor for the Institute of War and Peace Reporting, will be joining us in conversation to offer two different portraits of Russia charting historical change.
Chaired by journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Anne Applebaum. She is a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate, and director of Political Studies at the Legatum Institute in London. She is author of Gulag: A History and most recently Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-56.
Falklands referendum results, UK-Russia talks, and a new Chinese President make for busy week ahead
By Jasper Wenban-Smith, international editor of ForesightNews. A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews. Monday 11 March On Monday, a two-day referendum on the political status of the Falklands Islands wraps-up, with the results due that evening. The referendum is largely symbolic, since the islanders overwhelmingly favour retaining […]
Syria’s bloody conflict, fallout from North Korea’s nuclear test, and Italian elections set the scene for another whirlwind week in world news
By Jasper Wenban-Smith, international editor of ForesightNews. A round up of world news in the week ahead from journalist resource ForesightNews. Monday 18 February UN investigators looking into atrocities committed in the Syrian conflict will release their latest report on Monday. The commission chair Paulo Pinheiro and member Carla Del Ponte will discuss the report’s […]
Screening: Winter, Go Away + Q&A
While the streets of Moscow are in winter’s cold grip, its living rooms, offices and polling stations are ablaze with debate. Loaded with conflict and turbulent emotions, this street-level account of last winter’s demonstrations against Vladimir Putin’s presidential run, chronicles the political process and those dissatisfied with it. Followed by a Q&A with director Anton Seregin via Skype.
900 Days: myth and reality of the Leningrad blockade
By Lizzie Kendal On Friday October 12, the Frontline Club hosted the UK Premiere of 900 Days, followed by a Q&A with director Jessica Gorter, and Anna Reid, author of Leningrad: Tragedy of a City Under Siege 1941-44
FULLY BOOKED UK Premiere Screening: 900 Days + Q&A
A haunting documentary about a tragedy that took place 70 years ago in Russia during the blockade of Leningrad. Director Jessica Gorter explores the distance between individual memory and a narrative imposed by censorship, propaganda and fear for political ends.
Club Classics: Khodorkovsky
Opt for our £15 special offer for both the screening and a classic from our clubroom menu, 6pm onwards.
Khodorkovsky takes an explosive look into the life of former titan of the Russian oil industry, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, during his trial in Russia for an oligarchical rule of the market. After returning to his homeland from exile, Khodorkovsky is immediately arrested for challenging then President Putin, and a journey into the mind of one of Russia’s most powerful people begins.
Screening: Ukraine – From Democracy to Chaos + Panel Debate
In Ukraine: From Democracy to Chaos Jill Emery and Jean-Michel Carre explore this complex country, its geopolitical importance in Europe, and its unfinished struggle for democracy.
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 7 – 13 May
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 7 to Sunday, 13 May from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt Given the ongoing violence and international concern over Syria, it’s hard to believe (‘ridiculous’, even) that parliamentary elections are scheduled to take place on Monday, but President Bashar al Assad has insisted they will go […]
Putin, corruption and the Magnitsky case
It’s not easy to hear of how Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was killed.
What next for Putin’s Russia?
By Alan Selby Against a backdrop of growing discontent, and widespread allegations of fraud, Russia’s recent elections heralded Vladimir Putin’s re-election to the presidency. The man who many still saw as Russia’s de facto leader will now resume his tenure, four years after ostensibly ceding power to Dmitry Medvedev. In light of these developments a […]
FULLY BOOKED Russia: Another six years of Vladimir Putin?
Vladimir Putin is back in presidential office for a third term after four years as Russia’s Prime Minister. We will be asking what the people of Russia think of the man who has dominated the country’s politics for more than 12 years and will now be President for a new extended term of six years?
Tens of thousands of Muscovites have taken part in protests to demand free and fair elections. But how deep and how far does the disaffectedness go? Join us to discuss the outcome of the presidential elections in Russia and what they mean for the future of the people of Russia and its development on the world stage.
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 4 – 11 March
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 5 to Sunday, 11 March from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt Former Icelandic Prime Minister Geir Haarde is back in front of the Landsdomur court in Reykjavik on Monday. Haarde is charged with negligence over the country’s banking collapse in October 2008, though charges that he […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 27 February – 4 March
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 27 February to Sunday, 4 March from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt This week’s roundup includes no fewer than eight elections at all levels of government, beginning with a leadership ballot for Australia’s Labor Party on Monday. Prime Minister Julia Gillard called the snap ballot on […]
FULLY BOOKED #FCBBCA: Crisis in Syria – what can be done?
What are the options for the Syrian people and for President Bashar al-Assad and his regime now that China and Russia have vetoed the U.N. Security Council’s resolution calling for foreign intervention? We will be discussing the deadly crackdown and asking what can be done – and by whom?
THIRD PARTY EVENT: Viv Groskop in conversation with Sofi Oksanen, Robert Service and Elif Shafak
"Politics Versus the Personal: Totalitarianism Stamps out Love"
Presented by Borealis Theatre and the Estonian Embassy.
In conjunction with the UK theatre premiere of Purge by Sofi Oksanen at the Arcola Theatre, 22nd February – 24th March, Viv Groskop will lead a dynamic discussion about politics, love and oppression with three influential writers.
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 13- 19 February
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 13 February to Sunday, 19 February from Foresight News By Nicole Hunt Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has been ordered to appear before the Supreme Court again on Monday, this time to be indicted on charges of contempt of court over what prosecutors say is […]
ForesightNews world briefing: upcoming events 19- 25 December
A weekly round up of world events from Monday, 19 December to Sunday, 25 December fromForesightNews By Nicole Hunt EU and Ukrainian officials meet in Kiev on Monday for the annual EU-Ukraine Summit, with rumours abound that President Viktor Yanukovych is planning to skip the meeting in favour of the EurAsEC summit taking place in […]