The two overarching topics of this year’s IFFR edition are Everyday Propaganda and Feminism. On January 28th, IFFR invited the Russian political activist group Pussy riot as special guests to share their hands-on experiences. EM went to the Pussy Riot on Stage event to collect the student’s impression of the day.
The Pussy Riot programme spanned the entire day. The Q&A session and a screening of the Pussy versus Putin documentary in the afternoon. At night, the Oude Luxor Theater hosted the final event, Pussy Riot on Stage. To wrap up the visit, the girls chose to show a fragment of brand new footage for another documentary. As their artistic attempts are a work in progress, Pussy Riot did not perform themselves. Instead, they brought two bands from the Moscow underground to accompany the screening.
Groomed businessmen, creative bohemians, young and not so young feminists and, of course, students – all sorts of people came to see how the Pussy Riot were attacked during their performances with whips and sprays in Sochi and Nizhny Novgorod.
Read more: Indoctrinating masterpieces, a workshok Make your own propaganda
Truly eye-opening and shocking
The US students at RSM got interested because of the extensive media coverage of the Pussy Riot actions in America. “I wanted to understand the situation better, because for me such absence of freedom of expression is just impossible to imagine”, says Kate Drummond (30). Her friend, Felicia Kohar (29) agrees: “It was truly eye-opening and shocking. But also very powerful. I think they are really inspiring girls around the world.” Zachary Eisenberg (26) adds a manly perspective: “As a political major, I find their imprisonment unbelievable. They did nothing against the law.”
Emotional experience
Equally impressed were the Dutch Erasmus MC students Jasmijn Verbeek (20) and Lotte Tjallingii (21). They came to ´get an insight and a perspective besides the news’. Lotte appreciated Pussy Riot’s activities: “Maybe they can’t change much at the moment, but at least they put the debate out in the open.” Politics aside, Jasmijn enjoyed the performance: “I usually don’t like this kind of hardcore music, but I thought it stroke a cord with the film and made the experience more emotional.” KS
