30
Jun/14

OUTDOOR CINEMA: PUSSY RIOT — A PUNK PRAYER

30
Jun/14
Pussy Riot

Feminist art collective Pussy Riot states its case and faces the consequences in documentary about controversial group

PUSSY RIOT — A PUNK PRAYER (Mike Lerner & Maxim Pozdorovkin, 2012)
Socrates Sculpture Park
32-01 Vernon Blvd.
Rescheduled for Wednesday, August 27, free, 7:00
718-956-1819
www.socratessculpturepark.org
www.hbo.com

The slogan “Free Pussy Riot!” is being shouted around the world — and was even seen on Madonna’s back — ever since the Russian government arrested three members of punk collective Pussy Riot after they staged an anarchic performance of less than one minute of “Mother Mary, Banish Putin!” at Christ the Savior Cathedral in Moscow on February 21, 2012. British documentary producer Mike Lerner and Russian filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin follow the sensationalistic trial of Pussy Riot leaders Maria “Masha” Alyokhina, Nadezhda “Nadia” Tolokonnikova, and Yekaterina “Katia” Samutsevich as they each face years in prison for social misconduct and antireligious behavior for what some consider a sacrilegious crime and others view as freedom of speech. The three women do a lot of eye rolling and smiling in court as they are enclosed in a glass booth, proud and unashamed of what they did, continuing to make their points about the separation between church and state, feminism, freedom, and the seemingly unlimited power of Vladimir Putin. Lerner and Pozdorovkin speak with Masha’s mother and Nadia’s and Katia’s fathers, all of whom fully support their daughters’ beliefs and discuss what their children were like growing up. Meanwhile, other members of Pussy Riot and men and women across the globe take to the streets and airwaves to try to help free the incarcerated trio, who are responsible for such songs as “Kill the Sexist,” “Death to Prison, Freedom to Protests,” and “Putin Lights Up the Fires.” Pussy Riot — A Punk Prayer is screening August 27 in Long Island City as part of Socrates Sculpture Park’s free summer Outdoor Cinema series and will be preceded by live music from Tessa Makes Love; Russian food from Pomegranate will be available for purchase as well. The sixteenth annual series continues through August 27 with such other international fare as Moussa Touré’s La Pirogue, Takashi Miike’s 13 Assassins, and Vittorio De Sica’s Umberto D. (The program was originally scheduled for July 2 but was postponed because of the weather.)