Horror at home and abroad
The verdict has caused widespread horror in Russia and beyond. The prominent rapper Oxxxymiron (Oksimiron) called on his two million Instagram followers to come to the courthouse to demonstrate against staged criminal proceedings in Russia. The German theater scene also protested Serebrennikov’s conviction, who had worked for stages in Berlin, Stuttgart and Hamburg, among others.
German theater professionals demanded his release at a demonstration in front of the Russian embassy in Berlin on Friday. As the dramaturge Birgit Lengers described, attempts were unsuccessful to give the ambassador a list of supporters with 56,000 signatures. According to Lengers, who heads the international section of the German Theater in Berlin, an estimated 120 people participated in the protest.
#freekirill
There were expressions of solidarity on the Internet under the keyword #freekirill. The Schaubühne Berlin emphasized that there were allegations “that could not be proven in any way in the criminal proceedings that have been going on since 2017”. The theater was “stunned and outraged” that Serebrennikov should spend several years in prison.
German actor Lars Eidinger also called for a demonstration in front of the diplomatic mission.
“Regime Against All Living”
Russia is currently experiencing the “rebirth of a Stalinist machine of repression,” meanwhile prominent cultural expert Irina Prokhorova said on the radio station Moscow’s echo. The philosopher Leonid Gosman spoke of a “real hatred” of the power apparatus against Serebrennikov. “This is a regime that is against everything alive, against everything talented,” he said in a video on the radio station’s internet platform.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and international stars also campaigned for the film and theater maker. Serebrennikov runs the popular Gogol Center Theater in Moscow. In Germany he often staged in absentia because he was under house arrest and was not allowed to travel after his release.Thousands of cultural workers in Russia have signed a letter of support for Serebrennikov.
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