«Let’s go for a drink, we have to…» — these were the words with which Vitaly Manskiy, the President of Artdocfest, was leaving the opening of the first film screening at “Karo 11 Oktyabr” cinema, covered in paint and annoyed.
A big bright red logo of Artdocfest adorned the first floor of the cinema “Karo 11 Oktyabr”, near the first cinema hall. The film “The Life of Ivanna Japtune” was planned to be shown there. Guests began to gather near the doors to the auditorium, anticipating the screening. We were among them: talking to Elena Lascari, the director of Under Narcosis, and her producer.
The announcement of the evacuation interrupted us. All the guests, who had just come to watch a movie on a chilly snowy evening, were demanded by a voice to leave the cinema. The security guards unceremoniously rushed the guests out the door.The organisers and security interrupted, without explanation, the screenings, posters and conversations in the stalls.
Outside, one of the guards looked out of the door and said that the building was booby-trapped. There was no evidence that this was true.
It was cold outside for the last day of March. It was snowing. A crowd stood at the door of the cinema: journalists, film critics and simply fans of documentaries were freezing and talking. Among them was a correspondent from 7 Days magazine. He offered to take our photo for his article and told us about his acquaintance with the president of Artdocfest.
– I’ve been to every Artdocfest since it opened. I am a friend of Vitaly Mansky who told me that if I didn’t come, there would be no festival. I came, but they wouldn’t let us in. I’ve known Mansky for a long time, we made films about Putin, Yeltsin, and about the Kremlin. We were in the Kremlin for two months – I as a cameraman and he as a documentary filmmaker. Then we shot a film about Valentina Leontieva, there was such a famous TV presenter, her name was “Auntie Valya”.
It is strange what is going on. Last year they also disrupted a few screenings, well, a lot of crazy people. Last year they did it because there were films that someone didn’t like, but now it’s unclear why.
Our colleague immediately led us closer to his fellow filmmakers who started recommending the man standing among them, yet a little further away, with eyes that could hardly be covered by his cap: “We have a great film critic, Victor Matisen. An outstanding man! Even Mikhalkov is afraid of him, he used to say: “There are critics and there are Matizens”. Talk to him!”
– I go to the festival every year. I never make any predictions about the favourites, I only hear feedback from acquaintances, but I don’t trust my acquaintances, I only trust myself, so I was hoping to form my own opinion today.In my opinion, this is the best documentary festival in the world, no bullshit. The sharpest, the freshest, the most wonderful. And it also comes with an award.
The art of cinema is an art that I practice professionally, and for me it is the most valuable of all the arts. Of course, I’m also a big fan of reading and I like free adaptations of novels, that is, not those that don’t look like novels. I even attended the opening of the Society for the Protection of Novel Screenings. They think that screen adaptations spoil literature and kill it, there was such an idea in the 70s. To me, that’s complete nonsense and a novel is often more marketable after a bad film adaptation than after a good one.
My guess is that someone in the FSB gave their whistleblower the command to call the cinema and tell them there was a bomb planted to shut down the festival as if legally. This festival is extremely inconvenient because it tells the truth. Documentary cinema is by definition truthful cinema, especially at this festival, where it is being scrutinised. And this has been evident in previous festivals.
The president of the festival, Vitaly Mansky, arrived at the opening. But only things didn’t go according to plan. Instead of the opening speech, he, doused in paint, answers journalists’ questions about what happened.
Mansky was surrounded by the press. On his back wiped paint with napkins. It turned out badly. The rubbed paint was the same colour as the red festival logo on Manskoff’s cap and the big copy that was left on the first floor of the cinema.
The director doesn’t give up: “Of course, I’m human too and I’m scared afterwards. But if you let fear destroy you, then everything is pointless. You just don’t have to be afraid“.
Afterwards, Manskij said quietly to his wife: “Let’s go for a drink, we have to…”.
On the night of March 31 to April 1, the festival president announced the closure of the project. He is now planning to leave the country.
The sSecond author of this text is Maria Nosova.
