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Overlooked & Underrated Docs & Features
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Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Produced and directed by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, HBO’s “Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer” covers the trial and convictions of three members of the Russian political action collective known, of course, as Pussy Riot. The filmmakers include interviews with the three accused women, Maria Alyokhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova – along with family members, sympathizers, and antagonists. Lerner and Pozdorovkin had surprisingly open access to the trial, covering it with their own multiple cameras. They also cover the world-wide outrage at the trial and convictions.
Like the Pussy Riot collective itself, the film about their trial is an unapologetic call for freedom of expression – and ends with the cautionary information that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has already served two terms as the Russian leader, is now in his third term which may keep him in power until 2024.
Although I thoroughly enjoyed and was moved by the film, I was ambivalent about covering it because I figured that the Pussy Riot story was so well known, readers won’t need or want a reminder. But last night, at dinner with three friends, two of them didn’t know about Pussy Riot other than the sensational name. So, for those who know little or nothing about Pussy Riot, you can read about them at Wikipedia, of course, or you can see and hear their story unfold in this provocative 90 minute film on HBO.