2+2. Practicing Godard is a relatively short film based on a real event that provoked several important initiatives, including our band. The event itself was a very symptomatic one. May 9, 2009: A 24-hour experimental seminar entitled “Leftist Art. Leftist Philosophy. Leftist History. Leftist Poetry” (organized by Chto Delat and the Vpered Socialist Movement) is raided by special-forces police in Nizhny Novgorod under the command of Center “E.” Approximately 30 seminar attendees are taken to a police precinct, where they are questioned and photographed before being released a few hours later. Read more here.
This so-called Center “E” (officially, the Center for Prevention of Extremist Activities) is very much a child of Putinism: With no legal definition of the term “extremist,” any unwanted political or even creative activity can be portrayed as extremist (the Pussy Riot case being one of the latest examples). During the early years under Putin, Center “E,” originally a special-forces department focused on “group banditism,” was reformed as a new, ideological police department. From the first moment we met these guys, we realized that this is going to be quite an inspiring time. And it is.
2+2. Practicing Godard
A film by Learning Film Group, 2009
Filmmaking collective: Dmitry Vilensky, Oleg Jouravlev, Nikolay Oleynikov, Kirill Medvedev and many others
