Director Kirill Serebrennikov was a political prisoner in Russia before the war. Now he lives in Berlin. He tells Euronews about his protests, art and how the war changed everything for him.
For someone who neither studied film nor opera, Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov has done a remarkable job of making a name for himself. Having directed well over 100 performances, received standing ovation from the renowned Cannes film festival for his film ‘Leto,’ Serebrennikov is one of the most respected and daring directors of this century. He has worked directing in Moscow and operas across Europe including Amsterdam and Vienna.
Having spent almost two years under house arrest for allegedly embezzling funds – which he defends as a politically motivated trumped-up charge, Serebrennikov now lives in Berlin. But being born in the former Soviet Union, is complex. The director is a staunch critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, not just for the war, but also for Russia’s crippling stance on LGBTQ rights.
Before he left Russia, he took part in anti-Putin protests and staged an opera that satirised corrupt Kremlin politics. After he was denied state funding for a biopic that deals with Tchaikovsky’s closeted homosexuality, Serebrennikov secured financing for his 2016 film ‘The Student’ from the sanctioned Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. In 2017, the following year, he was accused of fraud relating to a performance of a performing arts project, which prosecutors a.
