REMEMBER
a film by Eléonore de Montesquiou
with a text by Andrei Loshak
10 min.
color
16:9 - HDV
Russian with English subtitles
Moscow, 2011
filmed in Moscow, January 19th, 2010
thanks to Andrei Loshak for his text, and to Ilya, Alexei, Masha, Dimitri, Andrei, Yasha, Jean-Felix, to Joanne and Brent for the proof reading, to the members of "Vpered" and all the other organisers of the march
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filmed in Moscow, January 19th, 2010
thanks to Andrei Loshak for his text, and to Ilya, Alexei, Masha, Dimitri, Andrei, Yasha, Jean-Felix, to Joanne and Brent for the proof reading, to the members of "Vpered" and all the other organisers of the march
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Film text:
On January 19th, 2010, one year has
passed since Stanislav Markelov, a lawyer and antifascist activist was shot
dead with a bullet in the neck in the centre of Moscow. Anastassia Babourova, a
freelance journalist working for the independent newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who
was with him, died of her injuries in hospital.
A systematic development of violent
attacks prevails in the Russian Federation. Emigrants, foreign workers and
students, human rights defenders, witnesses, lawyers and journalists who
intervene in politically sensitive court cases are targeted by the numerous
extreme right groups.
“Shame!"
The police had
interrupted the speaker and grabbed his megaphone.
“Shame!” chanted the demonstrators.
“For the first time in my life, I am
taking part in a demonstration reduced to a picket by the city government.
Until now, as a reporter, I could feel sympathy or rejection for the
demonstrators. One way or the other however, there was a distance between us
that I did not want to shrink. Tonight there is no distance. It is freezing
cold, you are walking - or, according to the official version, you are
standing- amongst a crowd of strangers who decided not to stay at home. You
feel their elbows and shoulders and you believe that the world is –ultimately-
not so inhuman as it usually appears.
I have a friend named Alem. He was
born in Moscow 27 years ago. He went to school on the outskirts of the city.
Alem was a skateboard virtuoso, an authority in the field. The only difference
between Alem and the other boys was his skin colour: it was slightly darker.
His father is Ethiopian and his mother is Russian.
In April 2004, two young neo-Nazis
"jumped" on him in the metro. When the train pulled up, these neat
young men knocked Alem off his feet and for half a minute smashed his head
against the granite platform. Then they ran and disappeared. Alem stayed for
five weeks in a coma and will remain for his life in a wheelchair, his “board”
as he calls it…
I have a dream that these
“Übermenschen” cease to feel like honourable family men, that they will tremble
in fear, that they will be sequestered in a stinking cellar. Instead of going
to multiplexes and shopping at Auchan on the weekends, they will have to hide
in remote apartments with fake passports and live in fear that every second
someone will come to arrest them.”
these notes were
written by Andrei Loshak, a journalist in Moscow
"Respected
citizens, head to the metro, the demonstration is dispersed!", yelled the
police repeatedly.
The demonstration was dispersed by
the police after they interrupted the speaker and grabbed his megaphone.
Our march was the largest
antifascist protest ever in Russia. Tonight there has been a change of balance
in street politics. Until now the street belonged to the far right.
A victory.
A victory.