Showing @ Filmhouse, Edinburgh, Tue 08 Oct only @ 20:10
Elena Khoreva, Denis Klebeev, Askold Kurov, Dmitry Kusabov, Nadezhda Leonteva, Anna Moiseenko, Madina Mustafina, Sofia Rodkevich, Anton Seregin, Alexey Zhiriakov / Russia / 2012 / 79 mins
Each time an election looms, it is common to hear Scots lament that all parties are the same and voting makes little difference. The subjects of this Russian documentary have a similarly voiced complaint – except in their case, voting really does seem to make no difference. Putin‘s victory is a foregone conclusion.
Winter, Go Away! was filmed by ten young Russian directors as Putin stood for his third re-election. It is very much a ground level exploration of the political climate, as chaotic footage of activists and artists, politicians and nuns, journalists and students respond to Putin in their own very individual ways. The results are feisty, ironic, comical, frustrated and frustrating, as their freedom is crushed by the iron fist of their dubious leader’s lackeys. This is a country where any criticism of Putin is attacked as akin to treason and any public expression of dissent, no matter how calm or peaceful, may be interrupted by helmeted riot police bundling activists into vans bound for locations they refuse to reveal. It is a sobering sight, leavened only by the resilience and wit of the characters onscreen. If such people can wrest control of their country from those in power, then Russia’s future is optimistic and UK elections will never look quite as bad again.
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