B EAST Magazine website

Berlin, Feb 24

It took a film about a jailed Russian dissident tycoon to shake up this year’s Berlin International Film Festival. In true B EAST style, the documentary Khodorkovsky provided a mix of criminal espionage, political intrigue and controversy.
Khodorkovsky is the story of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the Russian billionaire oil tycoon who found himself on the wrong side of the Kremlin.

A former communist party member, Khodorkovsky rose from lowly beginnings to become the owner of one of the privatized oil companies after the fall of the U.S.S.R. Once one of Russia’s richest men, he turned against Putin by funding opposition parties. Shortly after he was arrested on charges of fraud, and remains imprisoned in the justice system.
“There is no juridicial (sic) structure in Russia right now,” the film’s director Cyril Tuschi told a Berlinale press conference. “Every child who was in this court saw that the whole thing was a theatre.”
Tuschi – who looks a little like Quentin Tarantino with a Bolshevik beard – provided a bit of theatre himself when he announced that a burglary had taken place in his studio. On Feb 7, just days before the film was to premiere at Berlinale, Tuschi claimed that his office had been broken into, and a laptop containing the final edit of the film stolen.
Were Russian agents behind the break? Or was it a story concocted to generate publicity?
A police spokesman confirmed to B EAST that they had received a complaint about a burglary and are investigating, but could provide no details of the alleged break-in. Tuschi himself said that the burglary was good for the film’s promotion. The wheels of the German justice system turn slowly – though not as slow as in Russia – so it may take a few months to see what the police found, if anything.
Tuschi said there were many people who had a lot to lose from Khodorkovsky’s story being told.
“The rich people have fear that they lose their money, the power have fear that they lose the power,” he said.
The “money shot” of the film is the director’s short interview with Khodorkovsky himself, shot through the bars of a courtroom prison. Though it was the hardest piece of footage for the director to capture, it turns out to be the least illuminating part of the film. The preceding story of the Russian’s rise and fall, and the question of why he allowed himself to be arrested, are the driving elements of this impressive documentary.
The film proved so popular that extra screenings had to be organized. It will be released soon in cinemas and on DVD.

– by Al Jackson

Doing the viral rounds here in London this month is the frankly brilliant official website of pro footballer Andrey Arshavin.

‘Shava’ has become a cult hero to those on Arsenal FC’s terraces, with his scampish energy, oft-protruding tongue and his superlative hairstyle – and now he is delighting us all with little nuggets of Russian-ness on arshavin.eu where in the “Ask Andrey” section he answers all of life’s big questions and some (ok, quite a lot) of the small one’s too, sent in by fans, in an inimitable, matter-of-fact though largely unhelpful manner.

Russian-ness and the Russian soul, of course, are crucial to understand if one wants to understand Russian art at all, but it’s is usually frustratingly elusive, according to art-history wonks anyway. So really, then, Shava is gifting us an all too rare opportunity to help understand his art (which, seemingly, is as much Surrealism as it is footy) and life as seen by a Russian genius, and we here at BEast encourage you to get enlightened.

TALKING OUT HIS ARSH — a collection of our favourites:

Andrey, what do you think people need pain for?
AA: For people not to forget that they are mere mortals. Some people say that suffering purifies the soul.

What color is your bath sponge?
AA: Blue.

What do you think about piercing?
AA: I disapprove of it.

I would like to know whether you like cactuses (sic)?
AA: They are prickly; I remember we had them in kindergarten. We also had some at home. I didn’t like them then and I don’t like them now.

Andrey, do you need apples? We’ve harvested a lot of them this year! My friends also have a lot of apples and they don’t take mine. But they are so tasty and sweet, especially “white juice”. It is a pity that they’ll go bad…
AA: I love apples, but on the other hand, I think there are many other deserving people who will accept your apples.

Hi, Andrey, in what order would you place the following animals: a tiger, a cow, a pig, a horse, a sheep?
AA: A pig – it will always get the last place! A tiger, a cow, a horse, a sheep. And I’ll repeat that a pig is always the last one, because it is a pig.

What do you think of ideological anarchism?
AA: In order to give you an exhaustive explanation, I should thoroughly study this subject. So far I can’t say anything.

Hi Andrey! Please tell me, in your opinion, what is the most important thing for a footballer these days?
AA: I think the most important thing is a head, not only for a footballer but for any person.

Hi, Andrey, I love arsenal and helicopters. My friend, Steve, said that he met you once and he said you were very nice but you smelt of coffee. Do you like coffee? He also said that he held your hand. If I met you please could I hold your hand, I promise it will be no longer than for 3 minutes.
AA: I don’t drink coffee at all.

How do you see yourself in 50 years?
AA: 78-year old man, with aching legs and a glamorous walking stick

Hello Andrey! You supported Nike and (RED) partner project, aimed at combating HIV / AIDS in Africa. In the video you took part in, you ate shoelaces for some reason! I want to know why you ate red shoelaces? You are not fed at home?
AA: At home I’m fed only with blue ones.

Hello Andrey, I’ve been playing football half a year now. All this time I played the field and now I begin to wonder maybe I should become a goalie. What would you recommend?
AA: To think about it.

Have you ever been to Stavropol?
AA: No

Hi, Andrey! Some people say that the rain comes when the angels cry; some people say that it is a natural process. What do you think? Do you like rain??
Arshavin: No, I do not think that it’s angels’ tears. It’s simply a natural phenomenon.

Hi! I’m overweight. What shall I do?
AA: Lose weight