The director is of the opinion that one should create not about “abstract them”, but about “concrete us”. And although many theatergoers do not understand Serebrennikov’s methods and techniques, and others even call him an opportunist, his work makes everyone think about what they see.
Childhood and family
Kirill was born into an intelligent family from Rostov-on-Don. Father, Semyon Mikhailovich, was a surgeon, and mother, Irina Aleksandrovna Litvin, taught Russian language and literature at school. Kirill went to the first grade of physics and mathematics school No. 5, from a young age he actively participated in the social life of the class and even staged a play about the founder of Marxism, Friedrich Engels. Already at that time, the boy had a noticeable original view of the theater - the main character of his play was not the economist himself, but the Lyon weaver without arms.However, after the residents of the USSR gained access to foreign books and films, Kirill lost his party enthusiasm. It was during this period that he became imbued with issues of freedom, both external and internal. In general, Kirill considers his talent for directing to be hereditary - his maternal grandfather graduated from VGIK, studied with Eisentstein and Dovzhenko, and was one of the founders of the Moldova-Film film studio.
Kirill Serebrennikov reads Dolphin's poems
After graduating from high school with a gold medal, Serebrennikov intended to go to the directing department, but the head of the course and also a close family friend, Anatoly Vasiliev, dissuaded him, explaining that at such a young age people too often make mistakes when choosing a path in life. He advised the young man to finish something else first, and then, if he didn’t change his mind, to come back.
So Serebrennikov applied to the physics department of Rostov State University, which after five years he graduated with honors. While studying at the university, he was a member of the Komsomol cell, which he disbanded with his own hands during perestroika, and was engaged in directing at the amateur studio “69”. The first performance he directed within its framework was based on the works of Kharms. “It was some kind of funny disgrace. They poured kefir on the audience, and naked women walked around the stage,” the director recalled about this experience.
Start of a career
After graduation, Kirill continued to do what he loved and over the next seven years gained experience at the Rostov Academic Drama Theater. M. Gorky and the Academic Theater for Young Spectators. The very first was the production of “The Strange Fantasies of a Certain Miss Laetitia Duffet” at the Engagement Theater (1992).Kirill Serebrennikov in the program “School of Scandal”
In 1995, the production “Town in a Snuffbox” was released in the Rostov Youth Theater, which was very quickly banned due to the elements of sadomasochism included in the plot. During the performance, people dressed as hammers were supposed to run onto the stage and beat people dressed as bells while the latter sang joyfully. In reality, the “hammers” lashed the “bells” with whips. Released in the same year on the stage of the ATD named after. Gorky's production of "Little Tragedies" was criticized to smithereens by local theatergoers.
At the same time, Serebrennikov made his first attempts to explore the world of television. In 1991, he began collaborating with the Southern Region television company, after which he moved to the Don-TR state television and radio company. And here his talent turned out to be applicable: Kirill made a musical film, two documentaries, several dozen commercials and music videos, and took part in the creation of multi-part television projects. Advertising and music videos were just beginning to appear on TV screens, their creation was an interesting and exciting process, but when such work became routine, Serebrennikov decided to move to the capital and engage in big cinema, discovering a new direction for himself.
Career in Moscow
At first, Serebrennikov was not accepted in Moscow, considering him too provincial because of his shocking appearance and huge fluffy fur coat. At first, he continued to shoot advertising, but soon chance brought him together with playwright Alexei Kazantsev, who invited Serebrennikov to stage Vasily Sigarev’s play “Plasticine.” Seven other directors had previously turned down the difficult task, but Serebrennikov always loved taking on challenges. 
In the following years, Serebrennikov staged plays on the stages of the Theater. Pushkin, Sovremennik, Mariinsky Theatre. He interpreted classical works in his own special way (“The Golovlevs”, “The Bourgeois”, “The Forest”, “The Threepenny Opera”), collaborated with modern playwrights Oleg and Vladimir Presnyakov (“Terrorism”, “Playing the Victim”), Mikhail Kononov "(Naked Pioneer") In 2005, Serebrennikov’s talent was recognized by Oleg Tabakov, inviting the director to work in his theater.
Serebrennikov remade the play “Playing the Victim” into a painting of the same name. Having assembled a team of talented professionals - Yuri Chursin, Marat Basharov, Alexander Ilyin, Anna Mikhalkova, Liya Akhedzhakova and many others - he created a real masterpiece of Russian cinema with the grotesqueness inherent in Serebrennikov. The work received main prizes at the Kinotavr and Festa del Cinema festivals. However, actor and director Mikhail Kozakov did not agree with the jury of famous festivals. In his opinion, the film “Playing the Victim” turned out worse than a theatrical production, the convention of which has a stronger effect on the viewer.
In 2007, the restless Serebrennikov tried a new direction for himself - he became the host of the program “Another Cinema” on the TV-3 channel. A great joy for Kirill was the recognition of a Moscow teacher, according to whom, after the “Another Cinema” program, her students do not need to explain anything, they understand everything themselves. For just over a month, the director also hosted the “Details” program on the STS channel.
In 2008, Serebrennikov became a teacher of the experimental directing course at the Moscow Art Theater School. Students from this course subsequently formed the theater troupe “Seventh Studio” and now work successfully at the Gogol Center.
In 2010, Serebrennikov took on the production of the crime novel “Okolonya”, the authorship of which was attributed to the “gray eminence of the Kremlin” Vladislav Surkov. The scandalous production revealed the corrupt essence of power and demonstrated the metamorphoses of a person under its influence.
Also, the director, together with Chulpan Khamatova, Teodor Currentzis, Evgeny Mironov and Roman Dolzhansky, took an active part in organizing the “Territory” festival of contemporary art, Kirill himself was its art director. In 2011–2014, he worked as the artistic director of the “Platform” art project at the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art.
In 2012, Serebrennikov’s new film, “Betrayal,” was released, and was included in the competitive film program of the Venice Film Festival. In the same year, Serebrennikov became artistic director of the Moscow Drama Theater. Gogol, and in 2015, after the announcement of the reformatting of the theater into the Gogol Center, he headed it. Under the auspices of the Gogol Center, he staged the performances “Idiots”, “Dead Souls”, “Ordinary History” and others. The theater’s program also regularly includes film screenings, concerts, lectures and discussions open to all.
In 2015, viewers of Bekmambetov’s action-packed film “Hardcore” could see Serebrennikov in the tiny role of a tank driver. The director sat in the tank all day, and as a gesture of goodwill, he did not take any fee for the work.
In 2016, Serebrennikov directed the film “The Apprentice,” which, as expected, received awards at the Cannes and Kinotavr film festivals.
In the fall of 2016, Kirill, together with the French cognac house Remy Martin, presented a film that became part of the international film project One Life / Live Them. The project was about people who are successfully trying to realize themselves in several areas at the same time.
As part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare, Serebrennikov presented his version of the play “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at the Winzavod Center for Contemporary Art.
Personal life of Kirill Serebrennikov
Kirill prefers not to talk much about his personal life. His wife is the daughter of a capital theater director and an art critic. For her husband, she is a significant critic; he always listens to her opinion. The director doesn’t have children yet, because he considers them suspicious and is a little afraid.Kirill is a vegetarian, yogi and shopaholic. To search for new ideas, he often visits Berlin. In a country with an unfamiliar environment and language, he says, one thinks better. He loves jokes and Japanese perfumes, he doesn’t like riding in elevators and the word “fashionable.”
Kirill Serebrennikov now
In May 2017, the director’s apartment, the Gogol Center and the Winzavod art space were searched by Investigative Committee officers. Initially, Serebrennikov was a witness in a fraud case, and suspicion fell on the chief accountant of the Seventh Studio, Nina Maslyaeva.However, on August 22, 2017, Kirill Serebrennikov was detained in St. Petersburg on suspicion of embezzling 68 million in budget funds allocated for the implementation of the Platform project and taken to Moscow. He is charged with fraud on an especially large scale.
In 2018, Kirill Serebrennikov’s film was released, dedicated to the leader of the Kino group, Viktor Tsoi, “Summer”. Work on the film was interrupted due to the director’s arrest, but in September 2017 his house arrest measure was relaxed and he was able to return to his main activities. The main role is played by German actor of Korean origin Theo Yu, also starring the leader of the group “Beasts” Roman Bilyk and Irina Starshenbaum. The film was included in the Cannes Film Festival program.
In September 2019, GQ recognized Serebrennikov as Person of the Year. On the same day, the court recommended returning the Seventh Studio case to the prosecutor's office.
Kirill Semyonovich Serebrennikov. Born on September 7, 1969 in Rostov-on-Don. Russian theater and film director.
Father - Semyon Mikhailovich Serebrennikov, Jew, urologist, associate professor of the Department of Urology at the Rostov Medical Institute, author of scientific works, inventions and the monograph “Surgical treatment of erectile impotence.”
Mother - Irina Aleksandrovna Litvin, Ukrainian, teacher of Russian language and literature.
Grandfather - Alexander Ivanovich Litvin, former director of documentaries and popular science films at the Moldova-Film film studio, chairman of the Republican Society of Film Fans of the MSSR, Honored Cultural Worker of the Moldavian SSR.
According to his mother, he got his name in honor of the actor. “We named him Kirill for two reasons. Although I am Ukrainian myself, I wanted to name my son a purely Russian name. And secondly, the authority of the actor Kirill Lavrov, who at that time enjoyed particular popularity and fame,” said Irina Alexandrovna.
According to his mother, he grew up as a capable boy and demonstrated a craving for creativity: “At the age of three, we taught him to read. A little later, he himself began to draw. Moreover, not cute “resemblances,” but invented plots and images. In kindergarten, he took part in all the matinees, where he read poetry and danced, despite the fact that he was quite plump.”
In the senior classes of the specialized mathematics school where he studied, Kirill created his own theater, where he staged the play “Shadow”. It was then that I became interested in directing.
At school he distinguished himself by writing a school essay in verse - a continuation of the destinies of the main characters of Eugene Onegin, written according to the laws of Pushkin's syllable.
He graduated from school with a gold medal.
In 1992 he graduated with honors from the Faculty of Physics of Rostov State University. He was involved in directing during his student years - first in the amateur studio "69", since 1990 - on the professional stage.
Over the course of seven years, he staged ten performances in all theaters in Rostov-on-Don: the Engagement Theater, the Gorky Academic Drama Theater, and the Academic Theater for Young Spectators. The productions were repeatedly recognized as the best performances of the seasons and received prizes at All-Russian Festivals.
Among his productions of the Rostov period: “The Strange Fantasies of a Certain Miss Laetitia Duffet” (Engagement Theatre); “Phaedra” (Engagement Theatre); “Luboff!” (Engagement Theatre); “Sebastian’s Garden” (Rostov Theater for Young Spectators); “Tararabumbia” (Engagement Theatre); “Little Tragedies” (ATD named after Gorky); “Town in a Snuff Box” (Rostov Theater for Young Spectators); “Demon” (Rostov Theater for Young Spectators); “I’m standing at the restaurant” (Rostov Theater for Young Spectators); “Marriage” (Rostov Theater for Young Spectators).
Since 1991 he has been actively working on television. First at the television company “Southern Region”, then at the State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company “Don-TR”. Over the same seven years, he shot 11 video clips, 2 documentaries, 4 television plays, 1 video art film, 1 musical television film, 3 multi-part projects: two about music, the third about cinema, about 100 commercials.
Scripts by Kirill Serebrennikov:
1998 - Undressed
2000 - Rostov-Papa
2002 - Diary of a Killer
2004 - Ragin
2009 - Short Circuit. Kiss of the Shrimp (5th novella) (film almanac)
2012 - Treason (Betrayal)
2016 - Student
2016 - Etude (short film)
Works of Kirill Serebrennikov as an artist:
2016 - Etude (short film)
2017 - Hero of Our Time (film-play)
Video clips of Kirill Serebrennikov:
1992 - “Rubber Legs” - group “Beijing Row-Row”
1994 - “Memory” - group “There! There is nothing"
1994 - “Sea! Take a stool" - group "There! There is nothing"
1994 - “Closer” - group “There! There is nothing"
1994 - “Probably this is love” - group “There! There is nothing"
2010 - “January” - Mark Tishman
Kirill Semenovich Serebrennikov- Russian theater and film director, artistic director of the Moscow Gogol Center Theater. From August 2017 to April 2019, he was under house arrest; the director is suspected of embezzling 68 million rubles, which the Ministry of Culture allocated for the project about contemporary art “Platform”.
Childhood and education of Kirill Serebrennikov
Director's father Semyon Mikhailovich Serebrennikov- urologist, associate professor of the department of urology of the Rostov Medical Institute.
Mother - Irina Aleksandrovna Litvin was a teacher of Russian language and literature.
Maternal grandfather, Alexander Litvin, graduated from VGIK, studied with Eisenstein and Dovzhenko, and was one of the founders of the Moldova-Film film studio. As reported on Wikipedia, Serebrennikov’s grandfather was a director at the Moldova-Film film studio (1953-1972), chairman of the Republican Society of Film Amateurs of the MSSR, Honored Cultural Worker of the Moldavian SSR (1969).
Kirill Serebrennikov studied at the physics and mathematics school. Since childhood, the boy had a craving for art. Kirill actively participated in school amateur performances. It’s interesting that already in those years the guy staged a play - oh Friedrich Engels. However, the main character was not the comrade himself Karl Marx, and the Lyon weaver has no arms.
Serebrennikov graduated from school with a gold medal. Kirill immediately wanted to go to the directing department, but he was dissuaded, explaining that in youth people often make mistakes in choosing a profession. A family friend advised Kirill to first acquire a fundamental specialty, and then, if he does not change his mind, to return to a creative profession.
Kirill entered and graduated with honors from the Faculty of Physics of Rostov State University. While studying at the university, he was a member of the Komsomol cell, but when perestroika began, he disbanded it with his own hands. Kirill Serebrennikov also worked as a director at the amateur studio “69”. The first performance that Kirill directed was based on the works Kharms.
Kirill Serebrennikov's career in the theater
After receiving higher education, Kirill Serebrennikov continued to direct in Rostov theaters. He staged the plays: “The Strange Fantasies of a Certain Miss Laetitia Duffet”, “Town in a Snuff Box” (the play was banned due to the elements of sadomasochism included in the plot). The play "Little Tragedies" was also obstructed.
Serebrennikov began collaborating with the Southern Region television company in 1991, then Kirill moved to the Don-TR state television and radio company. Serebrennikov shot many commercials, a musical film, video clips, two documentaries, and took part in the creation of multi-part television projects. And then Kirill Serebrennikov got tired of this work, and he went to Moscow to make big films.
But the capital did not immediately accept the young director. For some time Kirill was engaged in filming advertising, and then as a playwright Alexey Kazantsev invited Kirill Serebrennikov to stage Vasily Sigarev’s play “Plasticine”. Before this, seven other directors had refused the difficult task, but Serebrennikov was not afraid of the difficulties.
Since 2002, Kirill Serebrennikov began staging plays at the Moscow Art Theater. A. P. Chekhov (productions of “Terrorism” and “Playing the Victim” based on the plays of the brothers Presnyakov, "Bourgeois" by A. M. Gorky, "Forest" by A. N. Ostrovsky, "Lord Golovlevs" by M. E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, "Pillowman" by M. McDonagh, "The Threepenny Opera" by B. Brecht, “Zoyka’s apartment” by M. Bulgakov), in Sovremennik (“Sweet-voiced Bird of Youth” by T. Williams, "Naked Pioneer" by M. Kononov and “Antony and Cleopatra. Version" by W. Shakespeare), at the Pushkin Theater (“Candid Polaroids” by M. Ravenhill).
Then the aspiring director Kirill Serebrennikov moved to musical theater, he performed the opera Falstaff G. Verdi(Mariinsky Theatre, St. Petersburg), “The Golden Cockerel” N. A. Rimsky-Korsakov(Bolshoi Theatre), "American Lulu" O. Neuwirth(Komische Oper, Berlin).
In 2008, Serebrennikov became a teacher of the experimental directing course at the Moscow Art Theater School. Students from this course subsequently formed the theater troupe “Seventh Studio” and now work successfully at the Gogol Center.
In 2010, Kirill Serebrennikov staged at the Theater Oleg Tabakov crime novel "Near Zero", the authorship of which is attributed to the assistant to the President of Russia Vladislav Surkov. In an interview with GQ, Kirill Serebrennikov said that he shared “the politics of Vladislav Surkov and the writer Nathan Dubovitsky" “Near Zero” is not a political treatise, but fiction; in my opinion, this is talented literature. I just liked this book and said: “We have to do it.” And he made an honest performance, one of my best,” said the director.
Many of Kirill Serebrennikov's productions caused scandalous reactions; the director was often accused of gay propaganda in his performances. The most notorious story was the failed premiere of the ballet “Nureyev” at the Bolshoi Theater. As reported in the news, the performance with nude photos Rudolf Nureyev in the background was moved at the request of the Ministry of Culture, which the department later denied.
There were also a lot of naked male bodies, albeit of the upper halves, in the new opera “Chaadsky”, staged by Serebrennikov at Helikon Opera.
The work of director Kirill Serebrennikov in cinema
Kirill Serebrennikov has been making films since 1993; Wikipedia lists his first work in his filmography as “Replacing Dogs with Mixing” (1993). Then he made films: “Swallow”, “Secrets of the Thunderstorm”, “Undressed”, the series “Rostov-Papa” and “Diary of a Murderer”, “Bed Scenes”, “Ragin”.
The breakthrough for Serebrennikov’s film career was “Playing the Victim” based on the play by the Presnyakov brothers (Grand Prix at the Kinotavr Festival, Grand Prix at the Rome Festival, 2006). In 2008, “St. George’s Day” was released with Ksenia Rappoport- critics have definitely included this film in the “chernukha” genre, popular in Russian cinema.
In 2012, Serebrennikov presented the film “Betrayal” to the public, which was included in the main competition of the 69th Venice Film Festival. Actress Franziska Petri received the award for best female acting in this film at the VI Abu Dhabi International Film Festival.
In 2016, Kirill Serebrennikov directed the film “The Apprentice,” which was shown in the “Un Certain Regard” program at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival and was awarded the Independent French Press Prize. Francois Chalet. The film also received the European Film Academy Award for Best Composer (2016).
“The Apprentice” is based on the play by a German playwright Marius von Mayenburg, the director moved its action to Russia. The film tells the story of a difficult teenager who becomes a religious fanatic and comes into conflict with a biology teacher. The film was shot entirely with private funds, without government support.
In April 2017, Kirill Serebrennikov announced the start of filming a film about the formation of the popular Soviet rock band Kino. According to the director, the upcoming film will not be a film about the leader of the group Viktor Tsoi, but will be dedicated to the period of time when the first Kino album was just being recorded.
In August, after Serebrennikov’s arrest, it was decided to suspend the filming of the film “Summer”, with the exception of the recording of technical scenes and scenes that the actors and group managed to rehearse together with the director and according to his notes. The creators of the film about Viktor Tsoi came to the conclusion that it was impossible to complete the film without Serebrennikov and expressed the hope that it would be completed.
The film was completed despite Serebrennikov’s arrest. By February 2018, the film was edited without violating the prohibitions imposed by the court, since it was done on a computer not connected to the Internet, according to the biography of Kirill Serebrennikov on Wikipedia.
The role of Viktor Tsoi was played by Korean actor Theo Yu, Mike Naumenko was played by the leader of the “Beasts” group Roman Bilyk, and Irina Starshenbaum was played by his wife Natalya.
The world premiere of the film “Summer” took place in the main competition program of the 71st Cannes Film Festival.
Kirill Serebrennikov at the Gogol Center
In August 2012, Kirill Serebrennikov became the new artistic director of the Moscow Drama Theater named after N.V. Gogol. As reported in the director's biography on Wikipedia, the Moscow Department of Culture appointed the director without announcing an open competition to fill vacant positions.
As director, Serebrennikov reformatted the theater into the Gogol Center, which opened on February 2, 2013.
Under the auspices of the Gogol Center, Kirill Serebrennikov staged the performances “Idiots”, “Dead Souls”, “Ordinary History” and others. The Center’s program also regularly includes film screenings, concerts, lectures and open discussions.
Awards for director Kirill Serebrennikov
In 1999, Kirill Serebrennikov became a laureate of the National Television Award “TEFI” in the “Directing” category. Serebrennikov is also a laureate of the Triumph youth prize (2001), the Stanislavsky Prize (2005), the Oleg Tabakov Prize (2003, 2004, 2008, 2009, 2013), and the theater awards “The Seagull,” “Crystal Turandot,” and “Golden Mask.”
In 2018, the ballet “Nureyev” (Bolshoi Theater) received the “Benois Dance” prize for best scenography, and the opera “Chaadsky” received the “Golden Mask” for the best work of a director in an opera.
The film “Summer” received a special prize from the Guild of Film Scholars and Film Critics “White Elephant” named after Miron Chernenko for its impressive symbiosis of theater and cinema. At Cannes, the film "Summer" received the prize for best soundtrack.
In 2018, Kirill Serebrennikov received the Order of Arts and Letters with the degree of commander by decree of the French Minister of Culture.
What is Kirill Serebrennikov accused of?
The case of director Kirill Serebrennikov appeared in the news in May 2017, when employees of the Investigative Committee, as part of a criminal case of theft, came to search the Gogol Center and its artistic director. There was talk about the theft of money in the Moscow Department of Culture. At first, there was no information about what Kirill Serebrennikov himself was suspected of, but a representative of the capital’s headquarters of the Investigative Committee of Russia Yulia Ivanova stated that the searches were carried out as part of a criminal case initiated into the theft of budget funds in 2014 on an especially large scale, allocated by the non-profit organization “Seventh Studio”.
The situation around director Kirill Serebrennikov caused a resonance in the theatrical environment; on May 25, the Russian actor Evgeniy Mironov passed on Vladimir Putin a letter in defense of the artistic director of the Gogol Center and talked with him about the search in the theater.
"For what? Well, why do this?! You're flying to France on Monday! Why do you need this?!” - asked Mironov. “Yes, fools,” Putin replied.
The Association of Theater Critics issued an official statement in support of the artistic director of the Gogol Center, Kirill Serebrennikov. Commenting on the reaction of his colleagues to the accusations, Serebrennikov noted that he was choked by tears and “torn by emotions - I so want to hug everyone and thank them personally!”
Head of the Public Council under the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation Pavel Pozhigailo called on people not to throw hysterics around the situation with the searches at the Gogol Center and not to politicize what was happening.
June 20, 2017 former director of the Gogol Center Alexey Malobrodsky was detained by police officers and then arrested by court order. Many famous theater directors expressed their support for Malobrodsky, declaring his innocence.
On August 22, in St. Petersburg, law enforcement officers also detained the artistic director of the Gogol Center, Kirill Serebrennikov. Commenting on what the director is suspected of, the Investigative Committee said that it considers Serebrennikov involved in the theft of 68 million rubles during the implementation of the theater project “Platform” in 2011-2014. An official representative of the Investigative Committee of Russia reported that the actions of Kirill Serebrennikov are qualified by the investigation under Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (fraud on an especially large scale) and the investigation intends to charge the director with committing this crime, and also decide on the choice of a preventive measure.
Then the investigation accused director Kirill Serebrennikov of having in 2011 invented and developed a project for the development and popularization of contemporary art “Platform”, for the implementation of which the Ministry of Culture allocated more than 214 million rubles from the federal budget, but the non-profit organization “Seventh Studio” created by the director » in the project action plans indicated deliberately unreliable and inflated information.
In mid-August, the Basmanny Court of Moscow placed Kirill Serebrennikov, suspected of fraud, under house arrest until October 19, 2017. Commenting on the situation, a Kremlin representative Dmitry Peskov stated that there is no politics or censorship in the director’s case, and state funds require accounting. On September 4, the Moscow City Court recognized the legality of Kirill Serebrennikov's house arrest, refusing to release the director on bail of 68 million rubles - the amount of which he is accused of stealing.
On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the house arrest of director Kirill Serebrennikov. “Despite the fact that he is under house arrest, this does not mean that he is guilty of anything. Whether he is guilty or not can only be determined by the court. The only question from the investigation is the legality of spending budget funds. If you look at government funding, it’s about 300 million rubles. And through the Moscow government - about 700 million over two or three years. Under a billion. This is already decent money,” the media quoted Putin as saying.
Friends, many colleagues and simply admirers of Kirill Serebrennikov’s talent believe that he is being persecuted unfairly; on the other hand, there are calls to understand what Serebrennikov is accused of. So Joseph Kobzon suggested not to interfere with the work of investigative bodies, Vladimir Menshov noted that he sees no reason for special treatment of Serebrennikov. The director did not share the sympathy of cultural figures for Serebrennikov Andrey Konchalovsky.
At the end of August 2017, a petition against the arrest and criminal prosecution of director Kirill Serebrennikov was signed by over thirty cultural figures from around the world. Among them is the actress Cate Blanchett, conductor Teodor Currentzis, director Simon McBurney, actor Lars Eidinger, pianist Igor Levit, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Elfriede Jelinek.
In a Change.org petition started by a theater director Thomas Ostermeier and playwright Marius von Mayenburg, says: “We protest against the arrest of Kirill Serebrennikov. The accusations against him are unfounded and point to the fact that there is an intention to silence a world-famous director.”
Actress Chulpan Khamatova called the arrest of the artistic director of the Gogol Center, Kirill Serebrennikov, the saddest and most tragic event. According to Khamatova, Serebrennikov is being persecuted “unfairly and illegally.”
On October 17, the Basmanny Court of the Russian capital extended the house arrest of director and head of the Gogol Center Kirill Serebrennikov until January 19, 2018.
Before the hearing in the Serebrennikov case, more than 100 people gathered at the courthouse. Among them was Ksenia Sobchak, who announced her intention to act at the trial as the director’s guarantor. The news reported that during the meeting, an additional list of people who vouched for Kirill Serebrennikov was added to the case materials. Among them were Joseph Kobzon, rapper Oksimiron, Zurab Tsereteli, Boris Grebenshchikov, Alexander Tsekalo, Stanislav Govorukhin, Pavel Lungin, Boris Khlebnikov, Alisa Freundlikh, Oleg Basilashvili, Sergei Yursky and many others. In total there are more than 30 names on this list.
In September 2018, news came that the Investigative Committee announced the completion of the investigation into the case against the director and other defendants in the Seventh Studio case. The criminal case was sent to the prosecutor's office for approval of the indictment.
On April 2, 2019, the Meshchansky Court of Moscow decided to grant the prosecutor’s request and leave director Kirill Serebrennikov under house arrest until July 4.
Also until the same date, house arrest was extended for other defendants in the criminal case of theft of budget funds, producer Yuri Itin and former employee of the Ministry of Culture Sofia Apfelbaum, the news said.
When your name turns into a brand, going unnoticed is an unforgivable luxury. It is almost impossible to identify how many times the name of Kirill Serebrennikov became the subject of magazine columns, because the curious flock to the antics and discoveries of this productive, multifaceted and bright creator like flies to honey. While others are talking about him, Serebrennikov does it, masterfully combining provocations and remarkable intelligence. Going to the Serebrennikov theater has long become a trend, and acting in its productions is the lot of a select few. The director knows what he wants, does what he wants, and knows how to create a worthy creative product. About how to help your neighbor, wear different socks, and not become an oil Zimbabwe - in an interview with Kirill Serebrennikov.
You were a Komsomol leader, graduated from school with a gold medal, and received a honors diploma at the university. Is this the excellent student syndrome that still “works”?
There was another syndrome: I even had suicide attempts due to an incorrect grade in the quarter. Apparently, there were some complexes in this area. Now everything has passed - it was childish, painful.
Tell us about your family.
Mom and dad live in Rostov. They are already pensioners, but before, mom was a teacher, dad was a surgeon, a very good one. By the way, he is still called for operations. I get my cinematic genes from my grandfather.
Is it true that while studying at the physics department you had problems with the authorities?
True, my friends and I “cancelled” the Komsomol, so party leaders “came upon me” and did not allow exchange students to go abroad. The faculty sent me to America, nominated me as an excellent student, but I was not released. But they released another person, who later emigrated. Now, it seems, I even have him as a friend on Facebook.
Are similar stories happening now?
It’s better that this doesn’t happen; no one needs repression. Probably someone doesn’t like me, I have a long tongue, I said something to someone, I could have blurted out something unnecessary.
Are there any ardent enemies?
My enemies are my teachers. Whatever your enemies are, that is who you are. You still need to deal with your friends, but your enemies are obvious. I have enemies whom I respect in principle, and some I am simply sad to count among them. For example, it’s sad for me to have Gordon as an enemy, although he scolds me in some of his texts. I think: “Lord, why do I have such an untalented person as my enemy?” I am to him like Vanderbilt to Ellochka the Ogress. We saw him once on his stupid show, the second time when he was drunk in the Central House of Writers. Maybe he wants to show something, but he doesn’t do it well.
Which of your colleagues are you truly friends with?
It’s impossible to list everyone, and if I forget someone, the rest will be offended. Luckily, I have friends and people I admire. In general, I communicate a lot with talented and good people. This is some kind of non-stop process. I have just come from the exhibition of Seryozha Ponomarev, who photographed the events in Libya. He is a very talented person, a very honest person, and I admire him. I'm glad that he has a combination of courage and such a sharp eye; he is not afraid to go where everyone else is afraid to go. He takes photographs that immediately become documents of the era. On our "Platform" Vika Isakova reads poetry in "The Story of a Soldier", directed by Guy Weitzman. It seems to me that she does it with talent, and I am glad that there is such a wonderful Vika Isakova. We have been working with her for a long time, and now she is also developing in an interesting way. I am very responsive to some bright, talented manifestations, like all of us. I look for them all the time because there is nothing better than admiring someone's work.
Speaking of talents and the search for something new: how did the idea of creating “Platform” come about on a site far from the usual theater spaces?
Firstly, there is nothing like this in Moscow, and secondly, there are a large number of people whose work does not fit into the standards or formats that exist in theaters with columns. In addition, this is also an educational project, it educates a certain audience, gives the opportunity to try something that you yourself cannot do.
Our society has lived for a long time without breakthroughs, everything is somehow dull and mediocre.
I travel around countries, look and understand - for such amazing artists as Luc Percival, Sasha Waltz (whose work I absolutely admire) to arise, certain circumstances and the right coordinate systems must arise. But we have a hard time with this. And, nevertheless, we need some breakthroughs, including in art. Our society has lived for a long time without breakthroughs, everything is somehow dull and mediocre.
Everything works according to the old scheme.
Yes, Russia in general is in danger of turning into a society of mediocrity. Having such a culture, having such a potential, to turn into a country of losers who shout that the enemy is abroad, that enemies threaten us everywhere. It’s terrible when people’s eyes light up just when they shout “For the Russians!” or “Beat the Jews, save Russia!”, “Beat the blacks!”, “Get out of Moscow!” - this is absurd. This cannot unite the nation! It's scary.
How do you feel about the fact that many media figures have rushed into politics?
Fools! This means that something is not working out for them at work. Another thing that worries me is that many creative people are leaving the country. I have so many friends, people in my close circle, leaving Russia. It's sad. Someone receives grants, goes to different countries - to Israel, Germany, America... Young, healthy, talented, who can still work and work, the most initiative, the most enterprising, the coolest, the brightest. They understand that there is some kind of crap here, some kind of dead end, some guys on TV are trying to stay in power with all their might. It is clear that these people do not offer the country anything that is interesting to respond to, everything is stagnating again, everything is stagnating again, everything is again hopeless: the same faces will remain for another 12 years.
How are theaters doing with financing?
The theater takes money from the state. The tradition that arose with the theater is a very good tradition, it should not be stopped under any circumstances. And so everything is already falling apart, fewer and fewer people are interested in the theater. People living in the city go to the theater less and less, but if this completely disappears, we will turn into some kind of Congo, some kind of Zimbabwe. It will be Zimbabwe with oil. Oil, of course, has dumbed us down. It seems to me that these oil years, on the one hand, gave some opportunity for consumers to eat, get drunk, paint the walls and buy some clothes also made from oil, but they absolutely dulled creative potential. People who sit on an oil source don’t need to do anything, they don’t need to invent anything, they don’t need to go anywhere - they will sell this oil, buy themselves food, clothes and expensive pieces of iron. This is the insane danger. There is such an oil curse for countries that live on oil; their culture, as a rule, is at seams. Here we are in such a crisis, so all that we have now are traditional rituals. People are used to going to the theater on Sundays, they teach their children this way, but sometimes stupid children don’t get used to it. It’s the same with cinema: a small percentage watches art-house films, and Russian commercial cinema is below all standards and criticism - no one watches it, it fails. If there is something good in cinema, it is the Russian art house, which has never let its viewers down, the Russian art house is our only component in cinema that wins at film festivals, is respected in the world, and attracts attention to Russia. It's part of culture, and I perceive cinema as part of culture, and not as a business strategy. The Russian film business is a bad thing. We’re not doing very well with him, to be honest. When the authorities periodically meet with filmmakers to resolve the issue of how to make cinema bring in money, this is not what they should be doing. We must honestly understand that Russian cinema is not for business, it is a fact of culture, a fact of art. Our path is probably the same as in France, as in Europe, when they subsidize their films, give them protectionist policies, impose quotas on them in every possible way, perceive them as part of a social program, as part of a cultural strategy, nothing more. They don't make money from it. Hollywood is in charge of money, but we guys won’t be able to overtake Hollywood, it won’t work! They have been doing this very well for many, many years. We will not catch up with Hollywood or Bollywood.
In one of your interviews, you said that “no acting or directing vocational school can teach a person to practice art.” What are you trying to teach students at the Moscow Art Theater School?
You know, art really cannot be taught, you can teach to be a skilled person, you can put in some thoughts about what is good and what is bad. I cannot teach my students how to stage a play, because it would be a mistake to impose my own system of coordinates on them, to present it as a kind of matrix that must be constantly reproduced instead of forcing them to give birth to their own matrix, their own style, to figure out how to stage a play on their own. That's why I try to shape them. At this age you can still put something into your head. Character cannot be changed - if a person is an asshole, it is incurable. But you can invest something in any person, try to explain what is good and what is bad, where it is worth going and where not. I remember from myself that at this age people are susceptible to influence. It is desirable that this influence be correct.
I read an article about your students - completely different personalities.
I agree, it is important for me that they are individuals, that they are citizens, that they are free people. It seems to me that freedom is a defining term that one can die for.
It seems to me that freedom is a defining term that one can die for.
We are very easily turned into a herd of sheep, we are turned into the electorate, we are zombified, we very quickly and often become victims of propaganda, we are constantly fed something - from consumer paradise, the constant consumer frenzy on which we all sit, to politics and what some false ideas, some people who are actually terribly shady. Very often strange transformations happen to people with the help of television, with the help of mass propaganda, and they are no longer able to distinguish good from bad, unfortunately. It is very important to check this assemblage point of yours all the time; it is very important not to fall for these propaganda tricks.
How should you respond to criticism? This year the premiere of the play "Near Zero" took place, which caused incredible excitement. How do you feel about reproaches about opportunism in connection with the choice of material for the performance?
It is probably very bad when there are many critics who, without knowing the matter, want to criticize someone. But criticism is necessary, because any person needs people who are critical of him. As for the accusations about opportunism, this was made by people who did not see the performance, and those who saw it would not say anything like that. There were very funny reviews: “I haven’t seen it and won’t go, but he’s an opportunist!” It’s not that I’m not ashamed of this performance, I’m very glad that I worked with this literature, I really like it, I like this topic. With this novel, with this powerful text, I told the story I wanted to tell.
If cinema is replete with 3D and 4D effects, in which direction is theater developing?
And the theater has long been 5D. Theater operates with dimensions that do not exist even in real life, because it appeals to the imagination, it works with the consciousness and subconscious - these are the highest levels and higher dimensions. You have to be able to feel it, you have to be able to recognize it.
How do they get to Serebrennikov?
I very rarely cater to an artist. If there is some idea, work or script, I try to look for people who can do it. Of course, I try to work with those with whom I have already worked, who have not let me down, with whom I have developed creative and human relationships. There are such artists, I’m always interested in them, because they are good artists. I don’t want to appear as some kind of opener, manipulator. I worked with different people, some artists played their not the worst roles in my films or performances, probably. I am very happy about this: if people like to return to the place where they had a good time, this is normal, so I work periodically with those with whom I have already worked. The principle that I heard from Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov is important here. He is a man who has lived a very long life with his colleagues and with the audience. He says that if a person, a spectator, leaves a performance, he will never return. You've lost a person.
Has this happened to you?
Yes, with scandals! If you let the viewer down, it's terrible. It’s another matter when the viewer leaves in protest, but he understands that you didn’t let him down, you didn’t show hack work, something hooked him. He may hate, but come again to check whether this is the kind of person he is, whether he hates him correctly. This happens. Basically, my main responsibility is to the audience. I want to be honest with them, I want to tell those stories or say what I think is important. I think this is such a simple but important responsibility.
Kirill, you recently finished filming a new film with the working title “Betrayal.” Who are we talking about?
This is a film that may not be very typical for me, but I wanted to make it. At some point, I felt the need to make a film about love, about passion, about betrayal, about things that we don’t often talk about. I don’t understand how well this will work or not, I just wanted to make a movie like this. We had a good creative company.
What was the cast like?
The main roles were played by artists from Germany, Macedonia, and Latvia. Among them is Albina Dzhanabaeva, who is directly related to Russian show business. This is an uncharacteristic situation for her, but she turned out to be such a talented, honest and fearless artist, that I was truly shocked. I would like her to do a very good job, so serious and real, which speaks about her in a completely different way.
This year has generally been very fruitful for you. You recently presented your photo exhibition.
I can officially declare that I do not consider myself a photographer. When you look at the works of Ponomarev or Bratkov, Volodya Clavijo, the brilliant Lyalya Kuznetsova (her exhibition made a huge impression on me) and other photographers who have been engaged in photography all their lives, I cannot dare to call myself a photographer. I am a person who once films something for himself, and people, taking advantage of the fact that my name was often found in the news feed, suggested that I make this exhibition. I didn’t have the strength to refuse, although I tried. I let myself be persuaded, and we did it. I don’t take this seriously, I can say that this is a completely amateur level, but I like to do it, I enjoy it. I always take my camera with me, like millions of people.
Surely, many will visit the exhibition in order to look at your new creative impulses.
Exactly the impulses! The next exhibition I will do is Nude, what a blast it will be!
People often talk about you and write a lot, but it’s difficult to call you a person who obviously strives for wide media exposure. It is very difficult to arrange an interview with you. Don't like journalists or just don't want "PR"?
You yourself know that our “PR” sometimes goes off scale, and all this looks blatantly immodest and inadequate. This is all part of capitalism, part of the consumer schizophrenia in which we all find ourselves. People become brands, that is, goods, so there is more or less demand for the product. I don’t want to be a product, I want to be a person, my privacy is very important to me. I don’t want to be a public person, like, look at me every second, I’m on stage all the time. I absolutely don’t give a damn about this, it’s important for me to do what I like, to try to do it honestly, because other than that I have nothing else. Regarding interviews: I understand that this is part of the job, it’s another matter when there are a lot of interviews - it’s also tiring. I’m not an organist, I can’t say the same thing all the time.
But I still want to talk a little about personal things. When did you decide to become a vegetarian and do yoga? Was there any turning point in your life?
This does not always occur from a fracture. Just at one point I decided to give up meat. I heard something, read some Buddhist sages, listened to a guru, but did not do it for any religious reasons. It just became so convenient and comfortable for me, I haven’t eaten meat for 9 years now, and I don’t feel the slightest desire. I only eat fish; it would probably be difficult to give up fish; there would be nothing to get resources from. But there are people who can give up everything altogether and eat only vegetables and feel great. Probably, my body is different; I still need some kind of animal protein. When it comes to yoga, it is a privilege. I started learning about yoga and felt blessed to be able to do it. There is nothing better, because this is work with the body, and with the mind, with time, with breathing - with anything! This is a great thing!
How is your style formed? I know for sure that you like to wear different socks.
I love different socks - I inherited this from one person. I somehow don’t think about style, I don’t get up in the morning and start thinking about what I’m going to wear today. I have a choice of some things, as a rule, these are “no name”, that is, things from unknown designers. In general, I treat brands with contempt, as part of the consumer world. All I have are both simple and designer items that I really like. I try to buy them in London or Berlin, I trust the taste of the stores where buyers buy things for the Belgians and Japanese.
Besides different socks, are there any essential attributes to your style?
It seems not. I have everything according to my mood: I put on the first thing I come across. To be honest, I have so much clothes that I have to give it away from time to time. This is some kind of neurosis that you need to buy something. I understand that a person needs very little to live normally. By buying all the time, we fuel this hysteria associated with consumption, thereby causing very serious damage to the environment. All this is fallen trees, some emissions into the atmosphere - very seriously polluting nature. You just need to get used to more modest appetites, you need to gradually understand that the world is not infinite, that resources are not infinite. And if we fatten like this... It’s a joke that we eat here, but in Africa people don’t finish eating - but it’s true! The world is becoming more and more dangerous, because our excessive consumption comes from somewhere. The fact that you and I have so much clothes in our closet means that someone doesn’t have it at all. I will never forget how I saw Africans wearing flip-flops and flip-flops made from plastic bottles with string. They can't afford normal shoes, so they make them from bottles. The world is full of paradoxes. We like to travel to Western countries, which live very richly, but we must understand that this wealth is at the expense of someone else, at the expense of some poor countries, due to the fact that some people stupidly do not have enough to eat and cannot make ends meet. This potential difference can be threatening; in our country it is already becoming threatening. The fattening Garden Ring and the fattening Moscow, and beyond this ring there are rickety huts, drunken people driven out of culture, from any social sphere - this is a huge danger, this is a bomb, and it will not end well.