"Strength, arrogance and rudeness." What is Alexey Serebryakov not saying? “We have an absolutely slave psychology”: how Alexey Serebryakov explained his departure to Canada to “Arguments and Facts”

I moved my family to Canada. I want my children to grow up and be brought up in a fundamentally different, at least everyday ideology."
This coming weekend, on one of the central TV channels, viewers will see the premiere of an eight-episode film based on M. Bulgakov’s novel “ White Guard" The large-scale historical production directed by Sergei Snezhkin stars all stars national cinema. The role of Colonel Nai-Tours was performed by Alexey Serebryakov
Psychology of slaves
“AiF”: - Alexey, “The White Guard” refers us to the events of the early twentieth century - the split of society, Civil War, loss moral guidelines. IN beginning of XXI century, or rather, after the recent rallies, some started talking about the unity of the people, others - about a new split in society. What position do you support?
A.S.: - I’m afraid we are seeing a serious split, and so far only his initial stage. And this split does not occur at the level of generations or social status, but at the level of ideology, desire or unwillingness to change something. And what is much worse: within the framework of this split there is a serious pitting of people against each other. They are deliberately provoked, apparently not understanding what kind of explosion this could lead to.
I am very afraid of what might happen on March 5th. The machine is running, and no matter how fairly the elections are held, there will certainly be many who will shout about their illegitimacy. Considering the level of aggressiveness in society, this is extremely fraught. But let's be honest - if Vladimir Vladimirovich suddenly announced that he was tired and was leaving, then after some general confusion many would not allow him to do this, and many would crawl to him to ask - to ask him to stay.
"AiF": - Who would crawl?
A.S.: - To my regret, millions! Who can control such a huge country be transferred to?! He is like a tsar, the husband of Russia. This is a colossal burden. In this sense, I can only feel sorry for the people who go to the supreme power. For example, I am with my family problems I can’t always figure it out, but here is a whole state in which you give an order, and already at the third level of execution they simply forget about it, they spit on it. At the same time, the money goes away... And nothing can be done about it!
Against the backdrop of recent political events three months has almost acquired particular relevance philosophical question: “Is a democratic society in its Western form possible in principle in Russia?!”
A.S.: - Listen, only about 150 years have passed since Russia abolished serfdom. A 70 years Soviet history- what is this if not a type of slave system?! One part of the country was in prison, the other guarded them. What kind of democracy are we talking about?! We have absolutely slave psychology! And democracy is responsibility. People in best case scenario delegates someone to power. Like, we chose you - you are responsible for everything, solve our problems! Democracy is making a decision based on knowledge, a clear understanding between what and what you are choosing. But I personally don’t see today a general desire of people to educate themselves, develop, improve their skills, work and, in the end, bear responsibility - including for the country, for the government. And those who want it are a drop in the ocean. On the other hand, I would like to hope that people change.

Putin of 2001 and Putin of today are two different people. And it is quite possible that the signals that society sends to him will be heard and understood. Perhaps the advisers will turn out to be smarter. But I’m afraid that after the elections the authorities will have no choice but to start tightening the screws. Personally, I can’t imagine any other way out. I don’t understand everything with my mind, but I feel with my skin that the tension is such that one spark is enough to lead to an explosion. God forbid, some Stenka Razin appears, in the sense of a serious, charismatic leader who shouts “Smash!”, and a huge class of uneducated, unemployed young people who want to have everything but do nothing will rise up.
“I’m tired of the rudeness of the authorities”
Let's return to the "White Guard". Your hero in the film is a man of duty and honor. Do you meet such people today?
A.S.: - Of course! I have met them, but much less often than I would like. And the shortage of such people is a consequence of the system. The horror is that there is no respect for human dignity in this country. No one here has ever thought about people. We thought about the vertical of power, about internal and external enemies, about modernization, but never about people! The individuality of man and his dignity were persistently destroyed throughout the twentieth century. So it is quite difficult to demand that people show honor and duty.

“AiF”: - When we agreed on an interview with you, you mentioned that you had been living abroad for six months. I don’t understand - did you go into emigration?
A.S.: - You can say it this way... I moved my family to Canada. I want my children to grow up and be brought up in a fundamentally different, at least everyday ideology. I want them to understand that knowledge and hard work can be valued, that it is not necessary to push elbows, be rude, be aggressive and be afraid of people. The street ideology of a civilized country is benevolence and tolerance, something that is so lacking in Russia. Unfortunately, here, no matter how much I protect and isolate them, you cannot protect them from rudeness and aggression. It's in the air. Ham won.
“AiF”: Was the decision to move difficult?

A.S.: - I thought about this for a long time, but the last straw was the summer fires of 2010, when Central Russia shrouded in monstrous smog. And the point is not even the smog, but the fact that the authorities did not announce the need to evacuate at least children, since the suspensions that fill the smog are irreversibly deposited in the lungs. This is absolutely devil-may-care attitude the powers that be have filled my cup of patience.

And in general, I’m tired of what’s happening in Russia. You could say he ran away and couldn’t stand it. Life is short, and I can’t and don’t want to wait any longer for people to wise up. I don’t know how long I have left, but I want my children to learn: the world is big, and you can live differently. Everyone talks about the artificiality of Western smiles, but for me, artificial smiles are better than sincere anger.

Famous Russian actor Alexey Serebryakov said that he renounced Russian citizenship and obtained Canadian citizenship, Zaxid.net reports.
The actor plans to come to Russia only for filming, on a work visa.
The actor noted that in Russia there is “an absolutely slave psychology,” while democracy is “responsibility and decision-making based on knowledge and a clear understanding of what you choose.”
“Unfortunately, here, no matter how much I isolate my children, you cannot protect them from rudeness and aggression. It’s in the air. The boor won,” Serebryakov said.

Serebryakov is known to viewers for his roles in the film “Tests for Real Men” and in the TV series “Gangster Petersburg” and “Penal Battalion”.
At the Cannes Film Festival, the film "Leviathan" received success, in which Serebryakov played the main role.

The wardrobe of the Moscow City Court is located in the basement. Queue. A girl with an oriental appearance takes her coat slowly, gets confused in the numbers... I turn around. I see Kirill Serebrennikov with a lawyer nearby, security at a distance. I nod... I don’t know if it’s allowed to approach the accused in the wardrobe? Will my greeting harm him? I decide to ask: “Can I hug you?” “It’s possible,” he says. “You are not a participant in investigative measures.”

I’m not a participant, but within the majestic marble walls of the Moscow City Court you involuntarily begin to feel guilty of something. From court and sums... “Don’t take it off! Another warning, leave the courthouse!” - the hefty guards guard gets angry, and the people crowding in front of room No. 225 hastily hide their phones.

Room No. 225 is considering appeals from ex-director of the Gogol Center Alexei Malobrodsky, former director of the Seventh Studio Yuri Itin and director Kirill Serebrennikov about the possibility of changing their preventive measure.

Serebrennikov's lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov argues that the main evidence of the theft of state funds is still the slander of the former accountant of the theater Nina Maslyaeva, who was illegally detained. She was kept in a pre-trial detention center until she gave the necessary but unsubstantiated evidence against her theater colleagues to the investigation. According to the lawyer, it is obvious that, in comparison with the previous meeting, the investigation did not find any new evidence of the suspects’ guilt. And the previous ones were not based on specifics - on general words.

Itin’s lawyer shares his concern with the court: “House arrest is used as a punishment and a means of putting pressure on those under investigation.” Pressure was put on Itin, but he does not testify against Serebrennikov not out of friendly relations, he simply does not know about the activities of the Seventh Studio - he has worked at the Yaroslavl Theater since 2011.

During the meeting, an amazing circumstance became clear: during the interrogation, Serebrennikov was asked questions with reference to Itin’s incriminating testimony... which Itin did not give.

“Apparently,” explains Itin’s lawyer, “the investigation hoped that the accused would begin to slander each other.” The lawyer suggests that in this case, isolating the accused for the investigation is a way to “split them into corners.”

“I asked the people arresting me,” says Kirill Serebrennikov, “why?” They explained to me that Itin had begun to testify against me. These pieces of paper with the alleged testimony of my colleague were almost more painful injuries than the arrest itself. And today is a happy day, I realized that all this is a lie... a lie based on non-existent evidence.”

Malobrodsky's lawyer Ksenia Karpinskaya asks a rhetorical question: “Should the investigator act in good faith or not?

As a result, the entire court turns into a defense against absurd accusations, repeated like mantras from session to session.

Lawyers: “We hoped that the investigation wanted to reveal the truth. But the investigation is looking exclusively for evidence of guilt.” The defense side is deprived of the opportunity to provide evidence. They are not taken into account."

Karpinskaya asks that correspondence from Alexey Malobrodsky’s personal mail, certified by a notary, be included in the case materials. Not only Malobrodsky’s letters themselves, in which he asks for an increase in salary (up to 200 thousand rubles) and permission to work part-time at the Seventh Studio and the Gogol Center, but also Serebrennikov’s answers. In the answers ignored (or not found?) by the investigation, Serebrennikov writes that he cannot pay such a salary... asks Malobrodsky to focus exclusively on working at the Gogol Center. There is not a word about money (!) in Serebrenikov’s answers.

Serebrennikov asks in the letter: “Have all specific activities been taken into account, since claims may arise?

“The court must verify the involvement of the accused in the criminal case,” the lawyers insist, “check the evidence... Malobrodsky in his letters described in detail what funds were spent on equipment, on various events...” Investigators from everything draw one conclusion: “Well, clearly, the money was stolen ..."

During a long process, there is no presumption of innocence: it is not the investigation that proves guilt, but the innocent trying to prove that they are innocent. And they are not heard.

During a break, we leave the conference room with Ksenia Sobchak, she is outraged by the work of the investigators: “They are not even concerned about collecting at least some clear evidence. Not a single specific word..."

Lawyer Kharitonov quotes Dmitry Medvedev, who explained to the whole country: legislation in the field of public procurement is imperfect in the theater sector. And the resonant investigation is obliged to figure out where possible violations are, and “where is the need to make operational decisions.” Lawyers and defendants spoke about these very operational decisions. Over three years, more than 300 performances on the Platform. Light, sound, auditorium, salaries (from 40 to 60 permanent participants), payment of taxes. Until subsidies arrived, they brought their own money and took out loans from banks. But as? “We spent three years of our lives on the Platform project,” says Serebrennikov. “Essentially, they created a stationary theater.”

According to the defense, the investigation, from the very first searches, from the mask shows, from the humiliating arrests, took an exclusively accusatory bent. When the evidence of the former chief accountant Nina Maslyaeva was added to the charges, the prosecution perked up.

For cooperation with the investigation, Maslyaeva was released from the pre-trial detention center under house arrest. Although the investigation knew that she had previously received a suspended sentence for embezzlement. At the trial, they recalled how she allocated loans worth 4 million rubles from Platform funds and opened her own medical center with 2 million... Nevertheless, the investigation only believes her, who is ready to slander her former theater colleagues.

Malobrodsky has not been released from the pre-trial detention center for more than 7 months. Why? Unlike Maslyaeva, he has no criminal record and has never gone into hiding. Almost the entire theater community stood up for him.

Documentation on the Platform project, as Karpinskaya explained, was destroyed by the Ministry of Culture due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. She asks questions: “Destroyed by whom? Who was present?” Why did the Ministry of Culture not consider itself a victim for three years, but after the “investigative initiative”, they decided “that they suffered”?

About a hundred guarantees for Kirill Serebrennikov are also sent to the table. The director has been under house arrest for more than 3 months - a measure that is clearly excessive. During all this time, the investigation never obtained new evidence of his guilt.

Lawyers refer to the plenum of the Supreme Court, which determines that new circumstances of the case are necessary to extend the period of detention: there are none.

Serebrennikov explains to the judge

“I was arrested later than everyone else, there were searches, investigators were called, I always showed up, told in detail about the Platform and all the projects that they did. About how they looked for money, when the tranche from the Ministry of Culture was delayed, how they invested their funds, took out loans. I constantly informed the investigation exactly where I was. There is no point in running, it means admitting your guilt. Probably someone wants us to suffer. Okay, we're already suffering. And most importantly, not only us, but also our loved ones. My parents are over 80. My father is after surgery, my mother is in bed, she has Alzheimer’s, there is a chance that she simply won’t recognize me. I'm not saying this for pity. It’s just that this “detainment of terrible criminals” turns into torture of elderly people who definitely don’t deserve it. We are holding on, but you can’t tell them: “Hold on!”
In the hall of the Moscow City Court. Photo: Artem Geodakyan / TASS

The chubby red-haired investigator and the pretty but dull-faced prosecutor listen to him skeptically. They quickly rattled off the prepared text, without focusing on the details. Malobrodsky compares the speeches of the investigator and the prosecutor with shamanic spells, repeating the same thing with different intonations... He even suggested that the prosecutor's texts are written as carbon copies - they repeat each other almost word for word. “Maslyaeva entered into a pre-trial agreement with the investigation... Lawyers want to mislead the court... Contracts were closed with loans - they violated the law.”

The absurd turns into a multi-volume serial-trouble. The preventive measure against Malobrodsky was initially announced “for the unstaged play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” It became clear a long time ago that there was a performance. “But since the reason has disappeared, does that mean the preventive measure can be extended?” - Karpinskaya finds out.

Alexey Malobrodsky again tried to convince the court that six months in custody is practically a punishment. Without a verdict, without convincing evidence:

“A huge amount of work has been done by the investigation, the artists have been interrogated, the piano has been seized. The investigation, in fact, refutes itself. It is extremely important to me to protect my good name."

He promises to appear on subpoenas in the event of a change in the restriction. And it would be easier for investigators; they sit for hours in a pre-trial detention center, waiting for the opportunity to interrogate the accused. Why is he the only one of all the suspects being kept in custody? He was just an employee." Malobrodsky has the only explanation for his persistent cruelty: to get from him the testimony the investigation needs.”

In two days, Alexey Malobrodsky turns 60 years old. His mother, a victim of the Holocaust, is deprived of the opportunity to communicate with her son. He is sick himself, and in the pre-trial detention center he is not receiving the necessary medical care.

The judge is inscrutable throughout the hearing. He became animated only once, listing on a piece of paper the media that were allowed to film the announcement of the verdict: RBC, MK, NTV, Dozhd, Life, Russia Today... HBO (North American cable satellite television network). HBO? “Your Honor” asked with interest.

I think Jerzy Lec remarked: “A state is best judged by how it is judged.” It is interesting to ask yourself the question: why is it that the theater business is so consistently and tirelessly inflamed? Not cinematic, for example. Although it is clear that Medvedev’s words about the theater and its imperfections economic activity fully apply to cinema. However, it is precisely in the current theater that the spirit of freethinking is still completely ineradicable.

Filmmakers are increasingly willing to put on screen the dream of militarized patriotism for big money, expressing their readiness to make “Danish” films even for Unity Day, the anniversary of the Revolution, the Great Patriotic War, to write about Kolovrat, Kalashnikov, St. Vladimir or Vasilisa Kozhina. Film directors with big names They go, as if to work, to receive communion with the new shepherds Solovyov-Kiselev-Norkin. We are ready to spread rot on the overseas evil spirits, to exhort our recent registration brothers, and to glorify Russian weapons.

The theater people won't stop. They and pig heads they plant, and the Cossacks stage demonstrations, and drive them out of the premises. They are all for their own. Now about Beslan, now about sedition about religious fanaticism, now about the Malaysian Boeing, now about intimate relationships. Why are they showing us to us, we have a TV?

P.S.

The Moscow City Court did not change the preventive measure for director Kirill Serebrennikov, former director of the Seventh Studio Yuri Itin, and ex-director of the Gogol Center Alexei Malobrodsky. He will remain in jail until January 19.

Russian documentary director Vitaly Mansky, known for such films as “In the Rays of the Sun” and “Family,” commented to Hromadsky on the arrest of his colleague Kirill Serebrennikov. He calls this matter purely political. The authorities, Mansky believes, are giving the creative intelligentsia an understanding of how to behave on the eve of the 2018 presidential elections.

One - sit. Two - quiet

In your opinion, who and what did director Serebrennikov interfere with?

It is quite obvious that director Serebrennikov was chosen as a symbol, a sign for the entire creative class, for everyone creative people in the country. As a sign of how to behave in the country on the eve of elections, the next presidential elections for a now endless period (Russian presidential elections are scheduled for March 2018 - ed.).

Therefore, this is a clear, intelligible, formulated, so to speak, I don’t even know, not an order, but an already executed order of the state, addressed to all of us. There are no questions or surprises here in this sense.

So, this arrest didn’t surprise you?

He surprised me, naturally. You know, how when you know that a person, say, close to you, is sick and terminally ill, you, of course, always believe that he will be cured and will be healthy, happy, young. But when the day of his death comes, it, of course, shocks you.

In this sense, the process of the disease of society did not begin today. And it’s clear that when I heard in the morning that Kirill had been detained and transported from St. Petersburg to Moscow, right out of the filming process of the feature film, of course, it shocked me.

And we and our colleagues at KinoSoyuz ( public organization Russian filmmakers - ed.) made, perhaps, the harshest statement demanding the authorities. In general, KinoSoyuz never made such a tone of statements, because we were all really shocked. But the fact that this was in some sense inevitable, because the government is really putting things in order in its ranks, it builds everyone according to the “fall and push up” system, because it needs to carry out everything very clearly in March 1918, without bitch and hitch.

And if for some businessmen, military men, industrialists they choose more soft shapes explanations of how they need to act, because by definition they are already, as it were, built-in, then for the artist they chose this rather rigid, but very clear form, so to speak, of defining how to behave in the next six months.

Russian director Serebrennikov was placed under house arrest by a Moscow court (pictured is the director outside the Basmanny Court in Moscow on August 23) Photo: EPA / SERGEI ILNITSKY

“It all didn’t start with Kirill”

Serebrennikov's arrest is a precedent. On August 23, it became known that 33 people were already in defense of Serebrennikov. Will this story be able to unite the creative intelligentsia of Russia so that it might make some kind of intelligible general polyphonic statement?

Of course not. It's even somehow naive. If this, you know, had happened... But on the other hand, this could not have happened, but if it had happened in Russia in 2008, maybe - yes. But today we live in a country where society is already divided, where there is already a majority that has sworn allegiance to the authorities, sworn allegiance in all its manifestations, starting with Crimea and ending with everything else.

Has already huge army artists who have integrated themselves, who are already somewhat comfortable in this new world order of theirs. But those who still resist, who are still able to show some kind of independent point of view, will come for them too.

This whole process proceeds absolutely clearly, consistently, measuredly, the scenario of these actions is clearly spelled out. And the authorities do not betray him. That is, it all started not with Serebrennikov, not with Kirill. We have two unions, if we talk about cinema, two film unions, two film awards - amazingly In small cinema, there are fundamentally different prizes - and so on and so forth.

Therefore, society is no longer consolidated. Maybe it will consolidate when other times come, when this power leaves, but this wormhole of a different ideology, a different outlook on life, I wanted to say another meanness, but, you know, a position is not always meanness, but it will remain in people .

It turns out, in essence, for Russian citizen there are three scenarios: the first is to fit in, the second is to sit and wait for them to come for you; third - sit and wait, be sure that they won’t come for you, because you haven’t done anything wrong, but still sit and wait?

No no! Look, if you sit and wait, and you know that you haven't done anything wrong, you've already built in. Therefore, we immediately remove one scenario. There are two left - to fit in and not to fit in. But if you don’t fit in, then you can’t stand still, you have to protect yourself and somehow build your life. That is, if you bright man, and not integrated, then you simply will not be able to do business, creativity, or anything.

After all, in principle, what is Serebrennikov’s theater “Gogol Center”, or what are other institutions that we prayed for, like such islands common sense and some kind of freedom? It was an illusion that in the country, yes, this is the general line, but there is a space where you can be, well, feel like you are in some more or less free community.

Now they have begun to destroy these spaces. And yet, as the head of Artdocfest, I know this process very well, not from the outside, but from the inside, because in the same way the state is destroying Artdocfest. Similar. Well, maybe less radically - no one is imprisoning me - but I’m talking to you not from Moscow, but from Riga. Try to put me in jail again.

Vitaly Mansky at Artdocfest in Moscow. Photo: Facebook Vitaly Mansky

Quiet innovators

I'll quote what you said the other day. You wrote that “this arrest cancels the fragile balance of the social contract between the intelligentsia and the authorities, these actions undermine faith in the possibility of dialogue.” What was the dialogue, exactly?

In reasonable compromises. Let's take a look: Kirill Serebrennikov - he made bright, voluminous, philosophical, innovative theater productions and films. But, so to speak, he did not show himself as a rally leader, he was not public figure. So I will say it carefully. That is, he did not make statements, he did not speak... I don’t remember him speaking in support of (Oleg) Sentsov, for example, or anything else.

He found a certain balance in the name of the fact that he was engaged in a very important, vital space for Russia, in the name of this creative freedom in his small space of his theater and his cinema. For the sake of this, perhaps - and I know that he is a fairly convinced, bright and formed person - he denied himself some other manifestations of such a more civil plan.

And this was, it seems to me, a certain compromise. Now this compromise is meaningless, because it doesn’t matter whether you perform or not, they will still come for you if you are not with them. That's all.

Integrate or leave

It turns out that, whatever one may say, this creative freedom or the choice to be free inside, to be creative while you are allowed, until they come for you, is to some extent self-deception? Because you see, they still came. Those who understand that they can also come for them should draw some conclusions for themselves. What conclusions will these people draw for themselves, do you think?

I think that most of will conclude that life comfort, or even its illusion, is more important, the illusion of comfort, and will still be built in even more, because this is what this whole action is aimed at.

Well, some people will formulate their disagreement more clearly, which means dooming themselves to even more difficult situation their theaters, their projects, their films, their whatever institutions they support. And probably, in some sense, the outflow of people from Russia will increase.

But when I talk about increase, you need to understand that, in principle, there are not so many bright people in any state. We're not talking about tens of thousands. But sometimes the departure of one person causes greater damage.

Of course, everyone today makes a decision for themselves, I think unconsciously, and some consciously, about how they will live in the future. Because the authorities tried to make sure that Serebrennikov’s case was indicative, so it became indicative for many, many people.

Kirill Serebrennikov at the Gogol Center. Photo: Facebook Kirill Serebrennikov

How will this story end for Serebrennikov himself?

First of all, this is a severe blow to a person, to young man. I don’t know how I could withstand such a blow if my production, which I had been nurturing for a long time and with such difficulty, was canceled two days before the premiere at the Bolshoi Theater.

Then they imprison all my producers, then they pull me from the set, and it is clear that when I am placed under house arrest, I cannot run the theater that I created.

This is a huge blow. And of course, I wish Kirill strength, but I don’t know how to withstand such a blow. And something tells me that... I won’t even say it, because the word is material.

And besides verbal support, what else can those people who are ready to help Serebrennikov do to ensure that help is provided?

Change power in the country.

The director was placed under house arrest until October 19. Our correspondent watched the trial in the Basmanny Court [video]

Photo: REUTERS

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On Wednesday, August 23, the Basmanny District Court decided on the issue of choosing a preventive measure for the artistic director of the Gogol Center theater.

The most impatient of the support group began to gather at the courthouse on Kalanchevskaya Street at about nine in the morning. By 10:00 the “cameras” and writing journalists had arrived. Actors from the Gogol Center and representatives of the theater community showed up. It is not surprising that by noon - at which time the meeting was scheduled - the entrances to the Kazansky railway station, next to the Basmanny Court, were blocked. The crowd stopped traffic. The police tried to restore order by forming a chain. But in vain. The cars stopped. The people, guessing that everyone would not be allowed into the courtroom, tried to take seats in the stalls. Actor Artur Smolyaninov climbed onto the hood of someone's SUV.

This is your car? - I asked out of curiosity.

“Everything here is now ours,” Smolyaninov decided for some reason.

"Organizer criminal group"

In this bustle, the arrival of Serebrennikov, who spent the previous night in a pre-trial detention center, went unnoticed.

Let us remind you that late on Monday evening the artistic director of the Gogol Center was detained in St. Petersburg. There he takes off his New film"Lito" o early creativity of rock musician Viktor Tsoi. They hired the director almost film set. And they sent me under escort to Moscow, to the Investigative Committee. We were transported for 9 hours in a minibus.

The detention was so sudden that Kirill Semenovich was initially confused and confused. He refused to testify and was awaiting the arrival of his lawyer, who was only able to arrive in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon. Serebrennikov categorically did not admit his guilt, explaining that the essence of the charges was incomprehensible to him.

Meanwhile, investigators believe that Serebrennikov participated in the theft of 68 million rubles in government subsidies allocated to the Seventh Studio and the Platform festival in 2011-2014.

The group led by Serebrennikov committed a deliberate serious crime. Nina Maslyaeva, who is in custody (ex-accountant of the Seventh Studio - Ed.), directly pointed to Serebrennikov. “He was the organizer of a criminal group that stole budget money,” the investigator spoke at the trial. - In addition, Kirill Semenovich has a residence permit in Latvia. There is property abroad. By remaining free, he can escape responsibility. That is why the investigation is requesting house arrest for the director.

33 signatories

Following the prosecution, the defense spoke.

Kirill Semenovich’s mother has a disability, his father, Semyon Mikhailovich, born in 1933, had a heart attack and stroke,” said Serebrennikov’s lawyer, appealing to the mercy of the court. - In addition, Kirill has property - an apartment on Prechistenka, 17. Plus Natalia Solzhenitsyna’s guarantee...

The lawyer read a lengthy letter from the writer's widow, in which she wrote that detention was an exceptional measure. Natalya Dmitrievna is personally acquainted with Serebrennikov, “he is exclusively honest man" In addition to Solzhenitsa, the guarantee was signed by Alexander Kalyagin, Andrei Malakhov, Vladimir Urin, Evgeny Mironov, Fedor Bondarchuk, Konstantin Raikin, Igor Vernik, Valery Garkalin, Victoria Isakova, Chulpan Khamatova, Andrey and Avdotya Smirnova, Zelfir Tregulova, Lyudmila Rappoport, Maxim Matveev , Lev Dodin, Lisa Boyarskaya, Andrei Urgant, Ksenia Sobchak, Sergei Svetlakov, Konstantin Khabensky, Yulia Peresild... A total of 33 cultural figures.

"I can't escape the country"

All letters and guarantees were added to the case materials. Kirill Serebrennikov expressed his heartfelt gratitude.

I am not guilty. “All the accusations against me are incredibly absurd,” he said in response. - I have been working in Russia for many years. I have no reason to leave the country or influence anyone during the investigation. For every call from the investigator, I came for questioning. My team worked honestly, I am not aware of any abuses by employees. My work as an artistic director is assessed unfairly. We have created a bright, powerful project (meaning “Platform” - Ed.), which is known not only in our country, but also in the world. I was responsible for the artistic part, it was on the highest level. I won’t be able to hide or escape from the country. My passport was taken away in May. I was going to Stuttgart, where I was supposed to stage an opera. Now this is impossible. I consider house arrest to be a cruel and unjustified measure. This will not allow me to continue working. I fair man. And I have no reason to run away.

The investigation says that the charges against Serebrennikov are justified, but there is nothing substantive in the case materials,” the director’s lawyer again intervened. - The charges are based on the testimony of Nina Maslyaeva. Based on the testimony that I have read, it is impossible to establish my client’s guilt. In addition, I ask the court to take into account that we are ready to post bail in the amount that Kirill is accused of (68 million rubles - Ed.). We will quickly raise money, just throw a cry among the people who are now on the street, near the court...

"Crystal honest man"

But there was no need to shout. At about 13.00, Irina Prokhorova, publisher and older sister of businessman Mikhail Prokhorov, appeared in the Butyrsky court. In court, she said that she was ready to pay bail for the director.

Kirill Serebrennikov is an outstanding director,” Irina Dmitrievna expressed her opinion. - He brought our country to the rank of an international theatrical power. In addition, he is a crystal honest person. His life is creativity. He a true patriot Russia. I am personally ready to pay bail so that people like Serebrennikov do not go to prison.

The heightened pathos seemed to confuse even Kirill Semenovich.

I'm sorry that I caused so much trouble to such busy and wonderful people, he admitted. - I am truly a patriot of Russia. I try to make my country a powerful cultural power. I humble person and live modestly. The Platform project is a part of my life. We didn't steal anything...

Directors Andrei Smirnov and Alexey Mizgirev spoke in defense of Serebrennikov.

The song was ruined

Having heard all the pros and cons, the court, however, sided with the prosecution and decided to send Serebrennikov under house arrest until October 19. He has been under house arrest for several months now. former director"Seventh Studio" Yuri Itin.

The Gogol Center actors, who together with journalists were waiting for the court's decision, decided to support their artistic director with a song. Viktor Tsoi “We are waiting for change.” Someone from the court corridor was broadcasting to the street. And there they should have picked up in unison “Change! Our hearts demand...”. But as soon as the song began, the bailiffs “stepped on the throats” of the two most vociferous ones. Anna Shalashova and Varvara Shlykova were escorted arm in arm into a separate room. Actress Yulia Peresild rushed to their defense...

The meeting of the Basmanny Court ended on this poignant note.

OPINIONS

Actor Alexander Petrov:

Of course, one cannot help but notice what happened in the Basmanny Court building. I think that there is no need to be discouraged, everything will be fine, and justice will prevail. Quite recently I was on the set of the film “Summer” - I came there to visit my girlfriend Irina Starshenbaum. When I arrived on set, I saw a wonderful, talented, honest, real team of super professionals. Part of this team worked on Gogol.

I have known Serebrennikov’s course for a very long time - we studied at the same time. Our courses were the strongest. Serebrennikov raises only decent, honest, real, humane people with a big heart. It is very difficult to believe what is happening.

Producer Alexander Tsekalo:

I believe that in a country that is in very good relations with the whole world, where the economy is on the rise, investments are pouring in from the West, corruption has been defeated, deputies do not steal, 100 million euros are not found from the generals... What else to do? Theaters. Therefore, I think that this is a very good initiative, TV channels, singers, singers will go further. If everything is good in the country, then we need to take up culture. So they started.

Recorded by Stas TYRKIN

QUESTION OF THE DAY

Why did the Serebrennikov case divide society?

Alexander ZAPOLKSIS, political scientist:

Part of society considers itself free from society and the state. And when the state returns them to the shores, they are outraged by the clampdown on freedom (for them - anarchy). The matter is complicated by the complete separation of the “creative” from the “people”.

Matvey TZEN, lawyer:

The creative intelligentsia believes that he is not to blame “because a talented director is above mercantile interests.” But where were the supervisory authorities if the money that was supposed to be reported in 2012 was stolen, but they remembered it now?

Anton BELIKOV, icon painter:

There is someone who is messing things up. But there is a place in culture for a character whose adventures everyone follows. Serebrennikov - trickster (person, spirit or animal who does not obey general rules behavior. - Ed.). The Basmanny Court is its stage, the involvement of the viewer is the practice of the theater. Serebrennikov is not Meyerhold, and 2017 is not 1937.

Marina YAKOVLEVA, Honored Artist of Russia:

I don’t think that Kirill himself is involved in fraud. He should be involved in productions, but here there is bureaucracy. Society is accustomed to blaming indiscriminately, but here we need to figure it out, because we don’t know the subtleties. It would be bitter if he was slandered and it turns out that he is not guilty of anything. I sympathize with him as a creator.

Igor MOLOTOV, writer:

Nikolai SVANIDZE, historian, journalist:

Our society has always been divided into those who support repression and those who do not. Throwing a director behind bars is a nightmare! The fate of Meyerhold comes to mind. The year 1937 returns - this class of director was tried in that year...

Vladimir BORTKO, director:

This is a litmus test when the society of Moscow and St. Petersburg is divided into liberals and statists. The process allows you to understand who you are with.

OPINION

Pavel SADKOV

Don't make a cult out of court

The investigation has been going on for months; Serebrennikov himself had no intention of fleeing or leaving anywhere, and physically he couldn’t, he doesn’t have a foreign passport. As far as is known, he participated in all investigative activities and did not shirk any questions or interrogations. Why this carnival with special forces and foreign journalists fainting from shock?

ANOTHER OPINION

Alexander KOTS

Why did artists stand up for Serebrennikov, but ministers did not stand up for Ulyukaev?

Imagine if the entire leadership of the military department had signed up for former Defense Ministry official Evgenia Vasiliev. Or all the governors began to unanimously intercede for the ex-governor of Sakhalin, Alexander Khoroshavin, moaning about repression. Or the Cabinet of Ministers, in a single impulse, wrote a letter with a request to release the arrested Minister of Economy Alexei Ulyukaev on bail. Naturally, our progressive public would immediately brand each of the signatories as a thief, a corrupt official and an accomplice. Of course, these are hated officials

On Tuesday it became known that director Kirill Serebrennikov had been detained on suspicion of fraud in special large size. According to investigators, artistic director Gogol Center organized the theft of at least 68 million rubles allocated for theatrical performances. One of the projects was the allegedly unstaged play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” which was reviewed by many media outlets, including.

Three people are involved in the case of the Seventh Studio founded by Serebrennikov - former accountant Nina Maslyaeva, ex-general director of the studio Yuri Itin and ex-director of the Gogol Center Alexey Malobrodsky.

At the end of May, after searches in the director’s house and in the theater he headed, prominent cultural figures spoke out in defense of Serebrennikov. Guild theater directors, artistic director of the Theater of Nations Evgeny Mironov and CEO « Bolshoi Theater» Vladimir Urin wrote a letter to Vladimir Putin, and a support rally was held at the Gogol Center.

Pavel Lungin, director

It seems to me that we see once again that our law enforcement agencies are not backing up and cannot show flexibility. Just as the biblical monster was the cetacean, which could only walk straight and crushed everyone who was in front of it, in the same way, once they formulated this accusation, they cannot retreat. They need to prove that they were right, they definitely need to be imprisoned, arrested.

And of course, there is no need for arrest. Kirill doesn’t go anywhere, he works. He is here, he goes to all the interrogations, writes explanations. It seems to me that this is unnecessary cruelty, some kind of vindictive cruelty. ( "Echo of Moscow")

Katerina Gordeeva, journalist

They ask about Kirill Serebrennikov: “Why didn’t he leave?”

And really - why? Member of the Avignon theater festival, Cannes and Venice, one of the best German opera directors of this year (according to the Germans) could find business and money in any civilized country.

And here is the answer, from an interview that we recorded a little more than a year back to Cannes.

- What remains - nailing your sneakers to the floor, like the heroine of “The Apprentice”? And not go anywhere?

— Yes, at some point you have to say, “I’m not leaving here,” when everyone is shouting, “Get out of here!” I do not like? Get out!” And I live and work here. My theater, my cinema. This is my homeland.

— You are offered to work abroad, you are already doing it. Is it tempting to leave and work outside of Russia?

“I see a lot of attractive things in this, but there are also a lot of questions.” Can I? Can. If I want to? Want. Am I comfortable? Super comfortable! But I don't want to lose Russia. I will never find such an audience as in the Gogol Center. There is no such public at all. Many people tell me about this. There are many people of the same way of thinking, and we need places - not Facebook, but physical places! — where they won’t feel lonely. Why did everyone go to these marches with white ribbons? Just because. They didn’t follow Navalny, they wanted to see each other. “So I’m not the only “asshole”, there are others like me.” Social networks have long failed to provide a sense of community, and this sense of unity is incredibly important. I respect and love these people. I want to work for them."

Anna Narinskaya, literary critic