After Pussy Riot, the all-female punk band, became a household name for their controversial act in Russia's main cathedral, a documentary was made, which has now won an award.
The documentary "Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer" has won
the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award in America. The film
was a Russian and British co-production and was directed by Mike Lerner
and Maxim Pozdorovkin.
The documentary was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, competing against 11 other titles. The members of the feminist punk group were arrested after they stormed the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow on February 2012 and performed their profanity-laden ‘punk prayer,’ which can be viewed in the video above.
They were sentence to two years each in a medium-security prison for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. One of the women was released on probation after successfully appealing her conviction.
The Pussy Riot members insist that they never intended to offend anyone's religious sensibilities.
One of the film's creators, Maxim Pozdorovkin, told the Hollywood Reporter, “I think that one of the things that interested us is why those 40 seconds – what they did when they went into the cathedral – why it became such a perfect storm of everything.”
“We often talk about how this possibly could be one of the most controversial and the most resonant pieces of performance art in history. The trial was important because it really brought together all these elements: Russia not having a punk culture, not having a performance-art culture, the resurgence of religious fundamentalism in Russia, the political situation, and all these things kind of came together in the story. In a way, once it was a sentencing and an outcome, that story was done – but, you know, future stories are made to be told,” he added.
Founded by Robert Redford in 1978, the Sundance Film Festival is held annually to celebrate independent movie making by film makers around the world.
The documentary was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, competing against 11 other titles. The members of the feminist punk group were arrested after they stormed the Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow on February 2012 and performed their profanity-laden ‘punk prayer,’ which can be viewed in the video above.
They were sentence to two years each in a medium-security prison for hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. One of the women was released on probation after successfully appealing her conviction.
The Pussy Riot members insist that they never intended to offend anyone's religious sensibilities.
One of the film's creators, Maxim Pozdorovkin, told the Hollywood Reporter, “I think that one of the things that interested us is why those 40 seconds – what they did when they went into the cathedral – why it became such a perfect storm of everything.”
“We often talk about how this possibly could be one of the most controversial and the most resonant pieces of performance art in history. The trial was important because it really brought together all these elements: Russia not having a punk culture, not having a performance-art culture, the resurgence of religious fundamentalism in Russia, the political situation, and all these things kind of came together in the story. In a way, once it was a sentencing and an outcome, that story was done – but, you know, future stories are made to be told,” he added.
Founded by Robert Redford in 1978, the Sundance Film Festival is held annually to celebrate independent movie making by film makers around the world.
To be source: http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/342272
