A Lecture by Anzhelika Artyukh

Today politics and our understanding of the mechanisms of political action have changed: social movements, parties, and other familiar forms of confrontational politics have begun to give way to a "personalized politics," a creative politics, a politics seeking its own art form. In this case, the role of the creative and artistic impulse becomes key. This is reflected in the films of Russian women directors, notably when they focus on women artists whose work, behavior, and position indicate a rejection of the current system of conservative political, social, and cultural values in contemporary Russian society. The activity of such heroines provides viewers with much needed examples of how to overcome political apathy.