Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

Documentary tracing the story of a 40-second performance in a Moscow cathedral that led to the full weight of the Russian state coming to bear on three young women, part of the Pussy Riot punk collective. The trio's actions provoked the sort of heavy-handedness from authorities that they were attempting to highlight, and saw them at the epicentre of a media maelstrom and show trial. A Punk Prayer offers an up-close look at the bewildered members of the collective, capturing their transition from impassioned 'hooligans' to articulate critics of their country's political institutions.

"In the winter of 2011, after a controversial election, Vladimir Putin was reinstalled as president of Russia. In response, hundreds of thousands of citizens rose up all over the country to challenge the legitimacy of Putin's rule. Among them were a group of young, radical-feminist punk rockers, better known as Pussy Riot. Wearing colored balaclavas, tights, and summer dresses, they entered Moscow’s most venerated cathedral and dared to sing 'Mother Mary, Banish Putin!' Now they have become victims of a "show" trial. British filmmaker Mike Lerner and Russian Maxim Pozdorovkin collaborate to chronicle the way one small act of protest captured a nation’s attention and grew to become an international story of human-rights abuse." (Sundance Film Festival)

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