Pussy Riot, the Russian-founded artist collective and protest group, has been campaigning against Vladimir Putin since 2011. Since then, some members have gained most wanted status in their home nation, while others have been forced to flee due to repeated arrests. Now, their story is coming to the screen as an original limited series.
Based on a forthcoming memoir by founding member Nadya Tolokonnikova, the scripted series will tell the story of a young girl in Siberia who chose to face up to one of the world’s most powerful dictators. This will include the formation of Pussy Riot itself, as well as some of the movement’s most famous moments, including 2012’s Punk Prayer action, the subsequent conviction and jail sentence of the group’s core members, and their protest at the Sochi Olympics following their release.
“My message is the same now as it always was,” Tolokonnikova tells Dazed about the announcement of the upcoming series. “Putin is a dangerous and morally bankrupt man. He and his supporters must be treated as such. We’ve seen heinous acts of violence in Ukraine, but bipartisan support in the West has slipped into the mire of ‘it’s complicated’. It is not complicated, he must be stopped.”
Looking back on her own experiences as a founding member of Pussy Riot, the artist and activist adds: “We were only twenty years old and broke philosophy students, but we faced the consequences for speaking up. I’ll speak up now, while my friends are being bombed, imprisoned, poisoned by this pathetic dictator – and I hope to bring this clarity to the west with my story.”
“I don’t want to paint some picture like we were special, I want to inspire anyone to speak up for what is right, even if the consequences are not so nice.”
The series is set to be produced by STX Entertainment, with John Caldwell (co-founder of Tolokonnikova’s UnicornDAO) on board as an executive producer. “We are incredibly excited to make a show as courageous and daring as its subject,” says fellow executive producer Sophie Watts, in a press statement. “Nadya’s life is nothing short of extraordinary. A gripping, real-life spy life, filled with heroic, relentless art actions and activism, this series will show how a persevering artistic spirit can change the world.”