Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer
Feature length film Completed 2013
Directors
Mike Lerner & Maxim Pozdorovkin
Doc Society helped with
Production
Runtime: 88 minutes
Follow the film
Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial in a case that has gripped the nation and the world beyond, three young artists or the society they live in?
Long synopsis
Filmed over the course of six months, this film tells the incredible story of three young women: Nadia, Masha and Katia.
As members of the feminist art collective Pussy Riot, they performed a 40 second "punk prayer" inside Russia's main cathedral. This performance led to their arrest on charges of religious hatred and culminated in a trial that has reverberated around the world and transformed the face of Russian society forever.
With unparalleled access and exclusive footage, this film looks at the real people behind their now famous colourful balaclavas.
Following the bizarre and intricate twists of the trial, we observe three young women fight back against a justice system that seems impervious to logic. From their family and friends we learn what transformed these women from political activists in to modern day icons. As Nadia, Masha, and Katia defend their convictions from a cage inside the courtroom, those Pussy Riot members still at liberty plan new guerilla performances and cultivate a protest movement across the globe.
Moving from farce to tragedy and back again, the film explores how political and religious forces contrived to make an example out of three young artists who stepped out of line. But with Nadia, Masha, and Katia, Russia's ruling powers got more than they bargained for. Are you a ready for a Pussy Riot?
Crew
Mike Lerner & Maxim Pozdorovkin
Directors
MIKE LERNER: DIRECTOR, PRODUCER
Oscar-nominated producer, Mike Lerner has been making arts, travel and popular culture documentaries for twenty-five years. He has produced films for many international broadcasters including BBC, Channel Four, Five, ITV, Discovery, HBO, PBS.
He has won numerous awards including, Academy Nomination for Best Documentary Feature, 4 Sundance Awards (Grand Jury, Best Director, Audience, Cinematography), Grierson Award for Best Documentary, Prix Italia, nominated for 2 Royal Television Society Award and 2 IDA Awards, Cinema Eye Award, Independent Spirit Award, Gotham Independent Film Award, Winner of Alfred Dupont Award, Winner Best Documentary Moscow Film Festival.
MAXIM POZDOROVKIN: DIRECTOR, PRODUCER
Maxim’s first feature film, CAPITAL, is a modern-day city symphony about the construction of Astana, a utopian city in the center of Kazakhstan. The film has been shown at film festivals around the world, exhibited at art galleries, and broadcast internationally. Other current projects include CITIZEN BOUT (post-production), a documentary about the international arms dealer Viktor Bout. Maxim's curatorial work includes Flicker Alley’s Landmarks of Early Soviet Film box-set, which received The 2012 National Society of Film Critics - Film Heritage Award. Maxim holds a PhD from Harvard University and is presently an artist fellow at Harvard's Society of Fellows.
