Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Mike Lerner is making his feature film directorial debut this week as he teams up with Maxim Pozdorovkin for Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer.
The movie follows the band from their performance that sparked outrage to their arrest and conviction in another riveting documentary.
We caught up with Mike Lerner to chat about the film, what sparked his interest in Pussy Riot’s story and his transition into the director’s chair.
- Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer is the new documentary so can you tell me a little bit about the film?
The film follows the events surrounding last year’s arrest, trial, prosecution and incarceration of Pussy Riot, the Russian feminist collective, for their impromptu and unsanctioned musical performances in Moscow.
There performance in the Central Cathedral in Moscow was met with arrest with and charges of hooliganism with intent to cause inspired by religious hatred.
They were subsequently were subjected to a trial last summer and the film really follows the events of the trail. But we also have contributions from their friends, family and supporters as we try and give a background and a context to the story.
We had a lot of great film material from the court itself; which allows us to hear from Pussy Riot themselves. They weren’t allowed to do interviews or anything during this period so this footage does give us a great insight into their motivations and reasoning. So I suppose you might describe it as a courtroom drama (laughs).
- The movie sees you in the director's chair so where did this movie start for you? And what was it about their story that really interested you?
I have spent my life really making films about art and politics and this is a film that does combine those two elements in an amazing way. First images of them appeared in the British press last January and I was immediately struck by them.
Once they had been arrested for this performance in the cathedral my instinct as a filmmaker led me to believe that they could be a big story.
But it was a story that really did appeal to everything that I am interested in; punk rock not least as I grew up in the seventies and was very much involved in punk rock then. So it is great to see that art form making a comeback in such a spectacular fashion.
- It's only been a little over a year since the arrest so how quickly did you go into production? And how easy was it to get the film up and running so fast?
Once we were aware of their arrest, which was the beginning of March, we immediately went out to Moscow and started making contacts.
It was relatively easy to do as we got a very well organised support network and we were in touch with their lawyers and families as well as various members of the Pussy Riot team.
They were very keen to have a film made and collaborate with us; they were interested in none Russians viewing their story from the outside. It was relatively easy thing to do, actually.
We didn’t have direct access to the three women while they were in custody but via their family and friends and network we were able to get the ball rolling.
As luck would have it state television actually filmed the trial and so we were able to get access to that material; so anything that we couldn’t cover ourselves was covered by others.
- Well that leads me into my next question as I was wondering how easy/difficult it was getting your hands on some of the footage?
By the time that they trial had started I had teamed up with Maxim Pozdorovkin, who is a native Russian, and he was able to schmooze them in ways that I couldn’t. He was very good at negotiating with them to get us access to this material.
They filmed the trial in order to stream proceedings live on line - I don’t think there was any great intention to us that footage for any other purpose and they shot a lot more than the actual proceedings.
So they were filming the conversations between the three women before the trail started; which is actually some of the most interesting material in the film because it is very intimate and they are not really aware that they are being filmed.
Also they hadn’t actually been in contact with each other as they had all been held separately; the only time that they had any contact with each other was in those moments before the trial. So it was an extraordinary happenstance combined with Maxim’s expert schmoozing powers (laughs).
- About 30 minutes into the film you talk to some people on the street about the girls facing jail and it is an interesting split between those that supported them and those that didn’t. What was the kind of reaction you were seeing from the Russian people while you were filming?
Of course it also depends on who you were talking to. In the film we have a lot of conversations with a lot of the very religious people involved in this and they felt very offended by what had happened and that they had got what they deserved.
Surprisingly, at the beginning of the case a lot of liberal and secular people also thought that what they had done was offensive and that they had brought this upon themselves. As the case grew more and more opposition politicians and liberal people thought that this was an overreaction.
The thing that you have to understand is the church in Russia has been subject to such repression over so many years that many people thought that it was an unfair target - even for these women. Initially the majority - and probably still - agreed with the verdict.
It is whether or not the sentence is too long or too short that tends to be the disagreement rather than whether they should have been found guilty of this crime or not.
- What did you make of the whole event while you were filming it? And how did your opinion of what happened and those involved change as you were making this movie?
It was a very exciting and interesting in Russia last year where there was a lot of this opposition activity and a lot of these big rallies on the streets of Moscow; it was almost like Moscow Spring or a Russian Spring that was happening.
That didn’t end up being so and the opposition had died away, at the moment, but you felt like you were present at a very significant event; which I think the trial was. As filmmakers you want to be where the action is and it certainly felt that that was the case.
Of course it was quite disturbing seeing the relative brutality of the Russian police and mass arrests. That is quite disturbing to us, but they are use to it (laughs). Most of these activists have been arrested dozens of times and really do take it in their stride.
Normally they get a small fine and they are let go; I suppose it is an occupational hazard to come extent (laughs). But what happened to Pussy Riot was a little more than that and no one was expecting really that; it was and still is quite shocking.
- You also speak to family members of Nadia, Masha and Katia so how keen were they to have their say?
They vary. Nadia’s father was very much part of the group and encouraged Nadia’s participation in it. He has always been very keen to take to the press.
But Katia’s father and Masha’s mother were less so; in fact Masha’s mother was being really hounded by the media as the state media had published a number of aggressive stories and television programmes about them and how evil they all were. So she was very weary.
Once she realised that we were trying to their story and give their side of the story she eventually agreed to do it; she was very reluctant to it.
Once again Maxim did a good job in persuading her that we weren’t trying to take advantage of them and that we trying to show a relatively objective side.
Obviously we are supporter of Pussy Riot and we are not claiming to be totally impartial but at the same time… indeed we do make a big effort to show all sides of the argument but clearly our film is supportive.
- Can you talk a bit about the editing process and the task you faced in bringing all of this footage together?
Well the terrifying thing was that the final appeal hearing was the middle of October - so we finished filming then - and then we were fortunate to get a cut of the film in Sundance, which is in January. So the first cut of the film we had about eight weeks to do that - it was a pretty terrifying business (laughs).
There is a lot of material and it is a relatively complicated story and we are trying to make a cogent and accessible telling of the story - I think that we just about did.
But after Sundance we returned to the edit for a few more weeks to do things that we didn’t have time to do. But the initial cut was a very speedy affair that I wouldn’t care to repeat (laughs).
- How have you found the response to the film so far - it does seem to be going down well?
Yes, it is. I imagine people who are coming to the film are pre-disposed toward Pussy Riot, are interested in this story and are supportive.
I think people do appreciate the extra insight that the film gives in terms of who these individuals are - the faces behind the balaclavas if you like - as well a degree of the political and social context behind the whole thing.
It is a gift for a film that you have already got a fan base. It is going really well and people seem to really appreciate it - that is something that we appreciate very much.
- The movie marks your directorial debut so how did you find stepping into the director's chair for the first time?
It is a very different world. I have been a producer for a long time, I was producing this as well, and so I had to do both things. But it was very exciting. In spite of the speed in which we had to cut this and the conditions we had to make it, it was very compelling.
To have such an exciting storyline was great. It was great working with Maxim as we have the same political views and the same motives and aims for the film; I think we collaborated well. It was great.
The big difference between directing and producing is when you are directing your head is really into the telling of that story and everything else goes by the wayside.
The effect that is has on the other films that I am making is not so good as I have been temporarily distracted by it all. I hope to find another story to attract me to such a degree so I can do it again.
- I was wondering how all of your experience as a producer help this transition?
I have always been a very hands on producer and so in terms of shaping the story or shaping the narrative is something I have always done anyway.
I guess there is just more responsibility to deliver that at the exclusion of everything else. I didn’t consciously think ‘oh this bit is directing and this bit is producing’ in a way they merge into one.
You just have the responsibility of delivering a good a film as you can make in the time and the resources that you have; that is same whether you are producing or directing.
- Finally what is next for you? Now that you have had a taste of the director’s chair is it something that you would like to do more of going forward?
Possibly. I have got a number of films that I am producing that are still ongoing so they need my attention at the moment. So at the moment I am not really planning anything - but who knows what comes up.
We would certainly like to do some kind of Pussy Riot upon their release next spring; clearly they are not going to retire from the world of politics or performance. It will be interesting to see what they are going to do next.
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer is out now.