Russia
Vested Interest: In Hock to Oligarchs?
By Elliott Goat Opening the debate organised by Standpoint magazine, which took place at the Frontline Club on May 1, Standpoint Editor Daniel Johnson began by restating the motion: This house believes that Britain is more interested in doing business with Russian Oligarchs than standing up to Vladimir Putin.
Ukraine Crisis: Turning the Page and Shaping the Narrative
Following months of unrest, Ukraine has a new leader. Known as the Chocolate King, Petro Poroshenko is tasked with restoring law and order, and steering the country away from conflict.
As fighting in the east continues, we will be looking at the challenges that lie ahead for Poroshenko and asking how he will unite the country.
Preview Screening: The Condemned + Q&A
Federal Penal Colony No. 56 is situated in central Russia, in the middle of a forest larger than Germany and a seven-hour drive from the nearest city. In winter, temperatures fall to 40 degrees below zero. There are 260 prisoners serving out their sentences, all of them for murder. Nick Read and Mark Franchetti gained access to this isolated world and talked to the men about their crimes, their punishment and what freedom means to them. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Nick Read.
Aleppo. Notes from the Dark: “Ordinary People in Extraordinary Times”
By Phoebe Hall On Thursday 24 April, the Frontline Club welcomed a full house to a screening of Aleppo. Notes from the Dark. It was followed by an insightful Q&A with directors Michal Przedlacki and Wojciech Szumowski, which touched on the misrepresentation of the conflict in Western media and the possibility of a foreign peacekeeping intervention. […]
Letters to Myself – thoughts on war 20 years on
by Sally Ashley-Cound Letters to Myself, which screened at the Frontline Club on Monday 14 April, follows Russian photographer Oleg Klimov as he returns to the places he documented during the disintegration of the Soviet Union in the 1990s and into the 2000s. The film combines Klimov‘s memories with the stories of the people he […]
In Hock to the Oligarchs?
Standpoint magazine brings together a distinguished panel to debate Britain’s response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
First Wednesday: Crisis in Ukraine
By Phoebe Hall As news of the build-up of Russian forces in Crimea dominated the headlines, a distinguished panel convened at the Frontline Club on 5 March for a First Wednesday event examining the current crisis in Ukraine. The insightful discussion, chaired by Paddy O’Connell of BBC 4’s Broadcasting House, largely focused on Russian motivation […]
Screening: Oleg Klimov – Letters to Myself + Q&A
For 12 years, Oleg Klimov documented the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Throughout the 1990s he witnessed almost all the conflicts and ethnic tensions of the region. Personally affected by his experiences as a war photographer and longing for inner peace, Klimov returns to some of the areas he photographed during wartime: Nagorno-Karabakh, Abkhazia and Chechnya. This screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Masha Novikova in person and photographer Oleg Klimov via Skype.
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.