Why Serebrennikov suffers. "Let them burn in hell"

Speech by Kirill Serebrennikov. Basmanny Court 18.07.2018

Your Honor,
What happens to me, as well as to other participants in the so-called theatrical business during last year can only be summed up in one word - absurd. I was presented with an absurd charge, on the basis of which I was unlawfully deprived of my liberty. And this lawlessness continues: now, once again, the investigation is asking you to extend my term of house arrest. The grounds are the same - I will hide, I will threaten witnesses, etc. I completely reject these reasons. There is no need for me to hide, there is no one to threaten, there is no evidence to destroy. These statements are so absurd that it is even embarrassing to refute them.

We are finishing our acquaintance with the case, and everything that we read in this case only confirms the complete nonsense of what is happening. My defense filed more than thirty motions to conduct investigative actions aimed at establishing where the cash was spent on the Platform. But the investigation, it turns out, is completely uninteresting to find out! We have already begun to receive refusals to satisfy our applications. To make it clear to you: we, for example, asked the investigation to interrogate all the employees of the "Seventh Studio" and find out how they were paid their salaries. And we were refused.

I am telling this so that you, Your Honor, as well as everyone who is following our case, hear the position of the investigation: it, in short, boils down to the following - first we stole the cashed funds, and then on them, on this money funds, we carried out the "Platform" project. That is, think about it: we stole money, and for these, that is, stolen, money, we carried out the “Platform” for three years. According to the logic of the investigation, we disposed of the stolen cash at our own discretion: and the discretion was to carry out the “Platform”, and we did it! Stole and spent on the stolen, it turns out. But this is absurd!

We are finishing our acquaintance with the case, and it is becoming more and more obvious to me that there is no evidence against us, even Maslyayeva's testimony does not confirm that we stole something. In fact, the whole thing came down to a formula - cashed means stolen. They stole it and made the Platform. Rave. Maslyaeva says this about cashing out:

“Before the opening of the Platform project itself in 2011, Itin and Malobrodsky approached me and asked me if I had a friend entity or individual entrepreneur, which ANO "Seventh Studio" could provide the so-called assistance in "cashing out" Money. When I asked Itin and Malobrodsky why this was necessary, Itin and Malobrodsky told me that the funds allocated from the federal budget might not be enough to implement all the planned projects, that if all payment transactions were carried out through bank transfers and officially, then it would be too a lot of taxes to pay."

Maslyayeva does not say that the money will be stolen - she says that taxes may not be paid, and for this it is necessary to cash out the money. And there are many planned projects - all of them cannot be done without cash. So the investigation needs to either investigate the story about taxes, or check each project of the Platform. But the investigation refuses to do this for 9 months.

Since, Your Honor, you will have to decide whether or not to extend your house arrest, I would like to explain my position to you. I will try to make it as short and to the point as possible.

1. I did not hold any administrative position in the Seventh Studio and did not sign the current economic documents. I did not supervise the work of the accounting department and all other services. I was the artistic director, and I was responsible for the dance, drama, music and media programs of the Platform project.
2. The "Platform" project has been fully completed. He walked for over three years. During this time we have made about 100 original projects. We showed 340 performances. We have attracted more than 600 artists, musicians, composers, dancers and artists to participate in the project. Our project was attended by more than 80 thousand viewers - most, by the way, absolutely free of charge, because the project was innovative and because we had to acquaint people with contemporary art. And we did it. I am proud of the project and everyone who made it.
3. For the implementation of the project in the "Seventh Studio" constantly worked from 40 to 60 people. And these people, just like me, were paid wages. We received it in cash at the box office, and we signed for this money. There is a lot of evidence in this case. But the investigation does not want to count this money. It directly tells us that you stole money by cashing it out. And wages You paid with this stolen money.
4. The case contains testimonies of people who were invited to the Platform to prepare a specific event. There are very few such indications. The investigators simply did not interrogate anyone. So these specialists were paid fees in cash. And this, it turns out, is also a payment from stolen money. We indicated all the participants in each of the events of the Platform, we asked them to interrogate all these people, calculate how much they were paid, and conduct at least some kind of examination. But we were refused. Here is what the investigation responded to our petition: “the persons listed in the petition had nothing to do with the implementation of the Platform project in 2012.” But this is a lie!
5. In the same way, Your Honor, the costs of acquiring a part of the props, scenery, consumables were paid. All of the same cash that we allegedly stole. They stole and made a “Platform” on them.
6. Your Honor, I don't want to convince anyone that cashing out is a good thing. I'm not going to evaluate how the accountant Maslyaeva acted. Probably, in addition to Itin, the fact that such a person as Maslyaeva turned out to be among the employees of the Platform is also my fault. But for me there is no doubt that all the cashed out money was strictly accounted for in the box office of the "Seventh Studio" and issued from this cash desk strictly for projects. I learned all this only now, getting acquainted with the case. But investigators know this too. And this is as obvious to them as it is to me. And so, in order to justify the whole thing and my being under house arrest for 9 months, they came up with this formula, fantastic in its absurdity - we stole all the cashed funds and disposed of them at our own discretion: that is, we held a Platform that and had to be carried out under an agreement with the Ministry of Culture. We did not buy cars and apartments for ourselves, we carried out a project of a grandiose scale, we did what the state ordered.

Your Honor, there is no and never was any reason to place me under house arrest in August 2017. There is no reason to extend this house arrest now. The whole business of the "Seventh Studio" is a farce, absurdity and lawlessness. This is obvious to me from the very first interrogation. This is confirmed by what we see in this case. Today I tried to tell you very briefly about this.

PS:
At the end I want to say. I am very grateful to the Avignon Festival, which held actions yesterday and today that support me and my colleagues. It is very important for us. Thank you.

H I will not write that a thief should be in prison ...
It is not true. Here the thief from a plow should sit, and the thief with a difficult surname not always. And if a cultural figure or other intellectual in law is suspected, then this is a VERY delicate topic! It’s like LGBT territory here, with which, as you know, even a representative of the law feels like in the Tarkovsky zone. The laws don't work the way they usually do. Therefore, for cultural suspects, only house arrest and food stamps are enough.

Money, as you know, wins not only evil, but also conscience. I would like to move away from the money that the state shoves in some of the elite and write a little about the aFFtor himself and the brilliant cultural figure ... after the publication of the post I will take a shower, it is not easy to wash off such a culture ...
I will not go around for a long time. Yes... I do not like such performances. In my opinion, all of Serebrennikov's work is not just nonsense, but a vaginal madhouse, which for some reason is well paid. It happens that there is a lot of slag, but something is pleasant. He has a rare case - 100% slag. I honestly watched several of his performances on YouTube. Alive and for the money did not go, thank you. I had enough remote viewing. It rarely happens that the slag is so talented that it even pulls. And after all, all this was put on stream not just for the sake of art and epotage. It looks like Serebrennikov came up with an ingenious scheme for cutting the state dough. You make a hastily scandalous shit and you're done. Expensive, mediocre, below the belt. How louder scandal, the more they write in social networks and discuss in the press. This is what success means. Pipple eats, and even in the West they will give an award, because the lower belt is the main guarantee of success and a guarantee from criticism)))

Maybe in our time it is. The scheme is working. But where did our "culturologists" and cultural enlighteners from the Ministry of Culture look? Who decides to whom the state to allocate money? Who allocated state funds for this abomination without Serebrennikov, and even such large ones? Name sister! Name! The country must know its heroes. Why do millions go to something that would show a penis from the stage and say "Suck it." I am not kidding. Someone probably likes this, after all, we are a free country, well, put on such pi * suffering little plays for your money. Serebrennikov, on the other hand, crammed a lot of performances of the lower belt into the cultural space. They entered and exited with enviable regularity, and not only in the center, which is Gogol (I don’t know why I don’t know Gogol, it’s probably funnier that way). But I don’t recommend watching this, it can make you sick. Modern Russian culture, like the good old rebellion, is senseless and merciless. 200 million, Carl! Not the euro, of course, but he would have mastered them. I understand when money is spent on a patriotic or classical performance, in the outback, where there are few theaters and culture needs to be promoted. Why does the state allocate money for "search" and creative experiments around anal sex and in Moscow? They are so good (experiments around the holes) that they have to find out through the "legs" of the viewer whether it is interesting to the viewer or not. Any intellectual will dance for loot from the state around a member. Squat. Nailed the eggs to the square - the artist! Torn off - a representative of the bloody Gabney! Obscurantism now sells well, but not to the same degree to pay!))) Malevich created a black square, Serebrennikov seems to have succeeded in the image of a black point.

Photo (C) http://cdn.tvc.ru/pictures/o/253/784.jpg

Word to Serebrennikov. “I staged a children’s play “Town in a Snuffbox”, where the text contained the following fragment: “The Hammers beat the Bells, and they sing sweetly.” Well, we came up with the idea that the Hammers lashed the Bells with whips, and they poured, obviously enjoying it. We were accused of sadomasochism, they said that such perversions should not be shown to children. There was a terrible scandal, the production was covered up. Since then, when they offer me to take on a children's performance, I refuse: “No, no, it’s better not to!”

About the play "Plasticine" ... " and no one wanted to stage this play! At the drama seminar in Lyubimovka, everyone threw Claudel Models, six directors said: not only to work with him - it's disgusting to read him! And I thought: why not? So what if the material is heavy - the boys were fucked by prisoners ... It seemed to me that this play should be played in a completely different way than it was written. And we made a poignant, tender sketch, which won first place, in connection with which I was offered to direct the production. And I was not sure that in Moscow I should start with this. There was no fashion for the new Russian drama yet, Vasya Sigarev, the author of Claudel Models, was nobody. After the first rehearsals, Vitaly Khaev - now a well-known personality, TV presenter - said: “You recruited us - some kind of gang of theatrical rabble. All the freak actors who are not called anywhere else have gathered here. ” With that feeling, we set to work. Nobody knew what would come of it. I remember that a familiar girl came to the run - either a cartoonist, or an artist of "Primer". At the first word “suck,” she lowered her head, covered her ears and eyes with her hands, and so sat through the entire performance. We thought, well, that's it. When there was a rather noisy success, it was perceived as a miracle.
(C) Serebrennikov's 2003 interview

Photo (C) http://ptj.spb.ru/

It seems that the author did not understand the meaning of the word success. 200 million little things, he is also a healer of naive pure souls. He opens their eyes and dips them where the dog ... will not stick. And they stood up as one of the same cultural figures, from young to old! Give us the loot and do not interfere with the sawing to create! Touched sacred! Creation! Good ... well, do it on your own, gentlemen! Refuse if they give, we have old women, as you know, not in chocolate, but you are the conscience of the nation. After all, the people believe you ... you should be ashamed. Sorry, found something. Brad wrote about conscience. Alas, in our country, the face of any person flashing on TV and in the cinema gives the people a guarantee - a decent and immaculate person, almost a saint ... for five years looking into his mouth and he is already starting to get used to it. Another five years and he is already sure - and really a saint. And truly unblemished. That's who in Russia live well))) And sit down, if anything, an accountant. She will take care of everything herself. And an expensive lawyer will drive hysteria about the year 37 in a zombie box. After all, a person from culture cannot go to prison. All doors must be open to him... It can't be a holy thief! He does not steal, he gives people his creativity for money, and this is priceless!

Today in Russia there are about 5 times more theaters than there were under the USSR. Has there been 5 times more cultured educated people?

Kirill Serebrennikov after the meeting on November 9, 2018. Photo: Kristina Kormilitsyna / Kommersant

Kirill Serebrennikov testified in the Meshchansky Court - about how the unique events of the Platform were done, how he did not create an organized criminal group, and how Maslyaeva's accountant stole five million.

The third meeting on the "theatrical case" in the Meshchansky Court, which took place on November 9, began, as expected, with a discussion of the removal of Lebedev's lawyer, representing the interests of the Ministry of Culture. One of the defendants, Sofia Apfelbaum, insisted on his exclusion from the trial. She told the court that during the preliminary investigation, this lawyer participated in the interrogations of all employees of the Ministry of Culture who testified against her. In her opinion, which the other defendants and their lawyers agreed with, lawyer Lebedev is deliberately biased and will not be impartial during the trial. However, the petition for his removal was not a whim of the defendants and their lawyers. The withdrawal was based on the law.

Smile of Judge Akkuratova

According to Article 72 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, the fact that lawyer Lebedev previously represented the interests of witnesses at the preliminary investigation, and now he will represent the interests of the injured party in court, is a circumstance that excludes his participation in the process.

The judge listened to the opinion of the defense and, picking up the edges of her robe, ran into the deliberation room. Halfway through, remembering that she forgot to ask the opinion of the prosecutor and the victims, the judge also quickly returned to her seat. And then for the first time we saw her smile.

Prosecutor Ignatova's opinion was predictable: she stated that she saw no reason to challenge the lawyer. The lawyer himself and Nikita Slipchenko, a representative of the Ministry of Culture, and previously a former actor who played supporting roles in films, were also against it. The judge retired to the deliberation room and quickly left with a refusal to challenge. She did not see any conflict between the interests of the witnesses with whom Lebedev's lawyer had entered into an agreement, and Nikita Slipchenko, whom Lebedev's lawyer "defends" in this process. We will have to admit that the judge is wrong according to the law, but right in essence. The employees of the Ministry of Culture, interrogated during the investigation with the participation of Lebedev, represented the interests of the Ministry of Culture and, judging by what Sofya Apfelbaum says, they also slandered her in the interests of the Ministry of Culture.

It will now be convenient for lawyer Lebedev to keep an eye on these witnesses when they are called to court. In his presence, they probably wouldn't dare to testify otherwise.

"My instruction is to make a play"

“Your Honor, can you help us? - the lawyer Irina Poverinova begs the judge. - The air is hot in the hall, it is impossible to breathe, the head starts to hurt, the cheeks burn, the temperature rises. Can we turn on the air conditioner? Who do we turn to?"

“To no one,” Kirill Serebrennikov answers her instead of the judge. He goes to the podium to continue his testimony, begun at the previous meeting.

“What if we die? “, Poverinov’s lawyer continues pitifully.

“This cannot be. We endured and will endure. Let's talk about the "Platform" - suggests Serebrennikov.

He is all black again. This time - in a T-shirt with the inscription in Latin "Deus conservat omnia" - "God preserves everything." This is the epigraph to Anna Akhmatova's Poem Without a Hero. Serebrennikov staged a performance based on this poem at the Gogol Center with the participation of Alla Demidova.

Lawyer Dmitry Kharitonov in a white shirt.

During his two-day interrogation, Kirill Serebrennikov managed to say a lot of conceptually important things.

The defense counsel's questions sometimes directly coincide with the wording of the accusations read out by prosecutor Lavrov at the first meeting.

Serebrennikov says that he did not discuss government contract issues with Sofia Apfelbaum. "It's a dark forest for me," he admits.

The same "dark forest" for him are all issues related to the details of financing the "Platform" project, the preparation of financial reports for the execution of a government contract. “Did you give instructions about the inclusion of false information in the reports?” - asks Serebrennikov Kharitonov. The director says he didn't. Kharitonov will ask his client several more times whether he instructed the employees of the Seventh Studio to use cash, conclude agreements with cash-cashing offices, and whether he controlled these same offices through which Maslyaeva's accountant cashed budget funds. And every time Serebrennikov patiently, calmly and confidently answers: “I don’t need to give instructions on the use of cash. My instruction is to make a play. I told the producers: we need to make scenery, buy props, give out royalties. Here are my instructions." Lawyer Kharitonov is persistent, he again and again asks about cash, asks how the salary was issued, how the props were bought.

“We were paid in cash,” recalls Serebrennikov. - Or, for example, they reimbursed themselves for what they spent on purchases for the Seventh Studio. For example, for the Japanese kimonos that I bought and which are still being played in the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream", I got my money back.

The director confirms that all artists, both permanent employees of the project and invited, were paid salaries and fees. “I did not control the receipt of funds. I was aware that the money had arrived. People came running and said: the money has come, let's not stop, go ahead. The money from the Ministry of Culture was late. We were all the time in a waiting mode: an event will happen, it will not happen. I knew when the money ran out. I knew when the money came. Where they came from, whether they came themselves or brought them, I do not know. The very mechanism of how this money came to the "Platform" is unknown to me. I knew about their presence or their absence. This was my job. If there is no money, there is no opportunity to work.”

A separate set of questions concerns the details of the arrangement of the "Platform" project at the "Winery". Serebrennikov tells in detail how he started the project literally from scratch: “There was no equipment, no appliances, no chairs, there was no way to change the space, there were no proper acoustics, musical instruments, dressing rooms - nothing. All this needed to be equipped for enough a short time. The project took place on a daily basis. The event came out, and the next morning there was a dismantling for the next event, which was rehearsed.

"Seventh Studio" rented or bought everything needed for performances. Serebrennikov emphasizes that he did not delve into financial details, he trusted his producers, general producer and general director in these matters.

Kirill Serebrennikov (left) at the presentation of the Platform project in 2011. Photo: Stanislav Krasilnikov / TASS

"Why did you buy a piano?"

As an example, the director tells the story of a Yamaha grand piano.

“I don’t know with what money it was bought. I remember that Malobrodsky came up and said: “Musicians complain, and we have an essential thing - a piano, we need it for all events where there will be music, we cannot live without it. We, apparently, do not need to rent it every time, but rather buy it, and there is an agreement with a company that will give it in installments. Can you find a place where he will stand? I was not ready for this, but we found a place, and then the life of the project took place taking into account the arrangement of this piano, we always moved it somewhere and called the tuner, because he was upset. Yamaha grand piano, very good quality, good musicians agreed to play it. If we didn’t have him, we would never have got Teodor Currentzis and the orchestra.”

During the investigation, the purchase of this piano was charged to the defendants in the case as one of the evidence of their criminal activities.

In a letter from the pre-trial detention center, Aleksey Malobrodsky wrote in detail how it was. Here is a conversation with investigator Fedutinov:

So. Why do you need a piano?

Mainly to play music.

And why did you buy it?

That's just behind it. Execute. Music. This is one of the areas of work of the "Seventh Studio". According to the Charter. Here we bought it.

For five million?

For five.

They had no rights.

Why not? The Civil Code is not against, it allows.

Five million?

Yes. Five.

And in fact?

That is???

How much does this piano really cost?

This. Actually more expensive. We agreed with the supplier on a good discount and installments.

Why a piano for five million?

This is a good piano.

We commissioned music from talented composers. And the performers were outstanding. Very demanding on sound. In the end, sound quality is also respect for the audience. Therefore, a good and therefore relatively expensive grand piano was needed. The experts will tell you that good tool this is a small price.

Should have rented!

How much does it cost to rent?

This class tool, I think, 50 thousand a day. 2 days of public demonstrations plus 1 day of rehearsal... The cost of transportation, rigging, settings will be ignored for the purposes of scientific abstraction. In general, greatly underestimating, 100 thousand rubles.

Here! Compare!

What to compare with?

Rent and purchase. 100 thousand and 5 million.

Good. Let's. For 3 years and 3 months, about 130 events were planned using the piano. 130 × 100 thousand rubles is 13 million as a payment for renting someone else's instrument. On the other hand - 5 million for the piano in the property. And its service life is much more than 3 years and 3 months. Agree, this is a prudent attitude to money.

Public money should not be spent prudently, but correctly. Right to rent.

But it was supposed to pay for the piano not with state, but with the organization's own funds.

You are confusing me again. They didn't have the right! Clear?

"Kimonos, carpets, double bass"

For me, the most interesting thing in the interrogation of Serebrennikov was his detailed account of how the work on specific performances went. I don't know if it was interesting to listen to the judge and the prosecutor. But from this story, once again, an extremely powerful project, implemented with public money, loomed. A project that really took place as a very significant one for the cultural space of Russia. In addition, it became clear that the "Platform" could not have enough money allocated by the state for all the artistic "whims" and "fantasies" of Serebrennikov. Not surprisingly, it was necessary to attract both loans and personal funds.

At the request of lawyer Kharitonov, Serebrennikov told in detail how the play "A Midsummer Night's Dream" was created, which is still running at the Gogol Center.

""A dream in a summer night". The executive producer Voronova comes to me. He says: “Kirill Semenovich, what kind of performance is this? - says the director. - At the moment when it comes, all the information is in my head and in some sketches that we provided in the form of a creative application - a free interpretation of Shakespeare, taking into account modern dramaturgy, modern dance, media and modern music. Multi-genre project. Further detail is required. I say: “I want it to be a performance, when the viewer moves from one space to another, walking from each short story to another, a promenade project. She says: “What kind of objects will they be”? I say: “There is such Katya Bochavar, and she makes such objects from the author's designs, they are quite effective. Can you contact her? And we will also have electronic music, we need complex microphone placement, we need a lot of headphones, we need to talk to the sound people so that they can do it for us. We need a playwright because it will be a free interpretation of Shakespeare. Let's be Valery Pecheikin, a fashionable, popular playwright, with whom we will do this project. And it's also a difficult problem with light and video. Because this episode will use a live camera that transmits an image from another room, and the viewer must see it.

And there will also be a large circle covered with carpets, and on this circle there will be modern dance, Anya Abalikhina should stage this dance with the guys.

Scene from "A Midsummer Night's Dream"

Further, receiving all the information from me, the producer turns to Katya Bochavar about the objects. Then the costumes. I say: “We will probably find something, we invited young guys, they will buy something, sew something. Japanese kimonos are needed here, I saw them in Amsterdam, I will buy them, will you give the money back later? She: "Well, someday we'll give it back." Or props, you have to go somewhere, buy an old double bass, somewhere it is sold, someone has it at home, you can ask, persuade him to sell it. And from this huge number of nuances, she receives all this information from me. Then she begins to meet with costume designers, who write her a detailed list of everything that is needed for each artist. The artists have several disguises. And some artists can be dressed from the Zara store, while others need to sew something, and the third - I want vintage hats, they are sold on the market, let's buy old gloves from the 1940s from this woman. Or carpets, they are sold at the Izmailovsky market - there is a man there, he promised to pick us color scheme. And Lena Perelman invented the light. And you can't hang anything. It is necessary to hang trusses to the ceiling, on which the light will be attached. They have to be taken somewhere. We must either contact the company that rents these farms, or buy them, because we will always need them. Then you need to decide how to zone the space between the episodes of the festivities. We need to build large walls - we will need them later for zoning the space of the "Platform" project in other events. Five meters high, 12 meters long - such transforming walls on wheels.

Then, receiving all this information, she (Voronova) understands how much it will all cost, because I don’t know, I only give some ideas. She considers all this and says: “Kirill Semenovich, we don’t fit into any estimates at all - here we counted this much, we could not know in advance that you would have such a fantasy. And secondly, it's just too much. I say: "Let's cut these walls, they will participate in several projects, their cost can be taken from other projects." Next comes the work within this estimate to reduce the estimate - in order to squeeze them into our capabilities.

The discretion of Kirill Serebrennikov

Lawyer Kharitonov names various performances and events of the "Platform" and each time asks how many times this performance was staged as part of the project, how long it was rehearsed, whether the fees were paid to artists, directors, musicians.

And when you listen to Serebrennikov's answers, you understand how much his story is more convincing than the indictment with the mantra repeated dozens of times: "they got the money, cashed it out and disposed of it at their discretion." Yes, “at our discretion” is just that: we bought equipment, props, costumes, staged performances, paid for tickets and hotels for invited artists and directors, and paid fees to participants in events.

“I didn’t set goals for the use of cash,” Serebrennikov repeats his “mantra”. - I didn't care what money was used, as long as it was used, and all the activities that we did came out on time. I set the task for the new innovative project to be absolutely transparent, clean, and to be done very honestly.”

“I have big claims to Maslyayeva”

Lawyer Kharitonov is interested in the relationship between the director Serebrennikov and the accountant Maslyaeva. After all, all the accusations in the “theatrical case” against all its defendants are built precisely on the testimony of Maslyaeva and her assistants.

Judging by the indictment, the investigation has no evidence that Serebrennikov and others knew how Maslyaeva handled budget money. And this means that in this case - "word against word."

“You said that an audit was carried out at Seventh Studio. When, in connection with what and who conducted it? - asks Kharitonov.

Serebrennikov tells what happened at the end of the existence of the Platform project. Ekaterina Voronova came to him (is on the wanted list - MBKh Media), by that time she had already become the general producer, replacing Alexei Malobrodsky in this position.

“In 2014, it was clear that the subsidy was ending. And the money won't come. Katya said that there was not enough money, that we could not afford it. I was surprised: “How so? Why? We used to allow. What happened?" And he offered to conduct an audit, because we need to understand how the work of the accounting world, unknown to me, works. Katya found an auditor, she studied all the documents, asked us to get together, because she had an uneasy feeling that something was missing there. And there are problems. By this time, Maslyaeva stopped showing signs of life, did not answer any calls, and generally disappeared from the radar, recalls Serebrennikov. - Katya was looking for her, I also asked Yuri Itin to find her, because the meeting was supposed to be in her presence, she is responsible for the Seventh Studio accounting for these years. She was found. It was done with great difficulty, just in extreme circumstances, we got together, and the female auditor told what she saw: she did not find this, she did not find that, some documents were missing for reporting. There was Maslyaeva and this lady, with whom she always went. Katya, having calculated the budgets, said that we lacked several million to implement our plans. I had a feeling that Maslyaeva somehow appropriated them. I can never accuse anyone unfounded, this is not part of my attitude to the world. I asked Itin: let's deal with this lady, where is the money? Maslyaeva behaved aggressively, did not want to talk to anyone, snapped at the auditor's claims and said that she did not know anything. But she had to know, because there was no one but her to know.

The meeting ended, we decided that we would work and come up with something. After the completion of the "Platform" program, people came to me, asked for the money back - and then I returned the money to them from my fees. Therefore, I have big claims against Maslyaeva.”

Nina Maslyaeva. Photo: Alexander Shcherbak / TASS

"Never Assigned"

At the end of the interrogation, lawyer Kharitonov asks his client the three most important questions: “Kirill Semenovich, did you create an organized criminal group?”

And he gets a predictable answer: "I did not create an organized crime group for anything, never, for any theft, I created a theater project."

“Did you embezzle the money allocated for the Platform project”?

“Never in my life did I appropriate what does not belong to me. I only received fees for performances, they were not so big compared to the fees in other theaters,” the director replies.

And third : « Did you knowingly submit false information to the Ministry of Culture?”

"I never provided false information, did not hide anything, we told the whole truth, and all creative reports contain reliable information."

"Itin Pissed"

After the interrogation by the defense, it was interesting to listen to the questions of the public prosecutor.

And it turned out that prosecutor Ignatova did not have so many questions for the main accused.

The first one concerned the meeting of director Serebrennikov with President Medvedev, then the director handed him several sheets of paper with the idea of ​​"Platform".

“Did you indicate the duration of this project and its cost in those papers that you handed over to the president?” the prosecutor asked.

Serebrennikov did not really remember what was in those notes to Medvedev. He says he seems to have outlined the approximate cost of subsidies that any Moscow and non-Moscow theater receives during the year. And this is about 70 million rubles annually. So much is needed to implement the project, to pay people a salary.

“This is such a “minimum salary” that Gogol Center is now receiving,” Serebrennikov explains. - We have the smallest subsidy, it seems to be less than this amount.

"Why three years?" - the prosecutor is interested.

“A beautiful figure,” Serebrennikov replies. - In fact, they won’t be able to do it in a year, they won’t have time to figure it out in two, and three years is a normal time. Any performance, any project - this is life, this is blood, these are daily affairs. I thought, well, at least three years own life we'll spend on it."

Prosecutor Ignatova asks why the "Platform" did not continue. Serebrennikov explains that the money should have been allocated from the budget further, but “a new minister of culture came and said: “We don't need all your experiments, and we don't need contemporary art. All your experiments are at your own expense.

“And he turned off all projects related to contemporary art,” the director continues. - Therefore, he (Minister Medinsky) then took all the money that is in the budget for the "Platform" somewhere. Where they went there, you will figure it out, by the way.

Prosecutor Ignatova does not want to deal with Minister Medinsky yet, she is interested in who exactly from the Ministry of Culture proposed to Serebrennikov to establish the “Seventh Studio” in the form of ANO (Autonomous Non-Profit Organization). Serebrennikov does not remember.

The prosecutor rummages through the papers and finally finds in the cheat sheet the numbers of volumes from the criminal case, which she asks the judge to read out. These are excerpts from the electronic correspondence between director Serebrennikov and his assistant Anna Shalashova.

The judge reads under his breath, not everything can be made out, the words “envelopes”, “euro”, “Apfelbaum”, “troll”, “pissed” are heard.

Lawyer Kharitonov asks to show him the volume of the criminal case that the judge was reading. “We should have the same case materials,” the lawyer is surprised. “There were no such records in those sheets that we photographed.” Neither the judge nor the prosecutor comment on the lawyer's doubts. The prosecutor gives Serebrennikov a volume of the case with the same correspondence, and the director comments on each entry previously voiced by the judge.

First recording:“When I was appointed head of the Gogol Center in 2012, I began to create new theater. Sofya Mikhailovna was very preoccupied and even indignant that I would abandon the Platform. She called me and said: “Kirill, Kirill, how is it?” I said: “I will combine, it’s just that the theater is interesting to me, there are people who are engaged in the Platform, and I will definitely be. Everything is fine there." Sofya Mikhailovna gave some comments in the press and commented with displeasure on my appointment to the Gogol Center. She asked me what I would do with the old troupe, I wanted to fire everyone, but it turned out that labor code it's impossible.

Second entry:(Shalashova) asks “can she deal with the GC Foundation”. It's about about Anastasia Golub (director of the Gogol Center after the departure of Alexei Malobrodsky - MBKh Media), and this already dates back to the time after the Platform. We are talking about the fact that we want to organize a fund, as many theaters do to create performances. That is, there is a support fund for Tabakerka, the Moscow Art Theater has it. I saw such a managerial decision in Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov. A fund is being created, and according to some documents, it is easier to produce performances through the fund than through the department of culture. All the activities of the people of the theater consist of two things: the search for money, the creation of a gigantic amount of paperwork that must be handed over to various supervisory departments. This is a nightmare and hell, theatrical figures at all meetings say that the theater legislation is imperfect, it is very difficult to work with it.

“Did this conversation take place after the Platform? says the prosecutor.

"Yes," Serebrennikov confirms.

Third entry: Prosecutor: “But this phrase: “Now the brain will explode. Arranged in envelopes.

Serebrennikov patiently explains: “We are talking about the fact that we were doing a New Year's sponsorship corporate party for the Novotek company, and we had to pay off the artists who took part in it. And so Anya laid out these fees in envelopes. There was a banquet and so on. We all did this as a sponsorship event, this has nothing to do with the Platform, this is the Gogol Center in December 2016.

Fourth entry:“We must put in euros” - this is about the play “Lake”. This also applies to the "Gogol Center", this is after the "Platform" was closed. We are discussing how to release the play "Lake" and the remaining money from sponsorship events, so that inflation does not burn them, put them into my account in euros. We produced the play through the Gogol Center fund. We bought expensive film in Germany, we had to do it for euros.”

Fifth entry: "I'm making an agreement with M." We are talking about Meisingir, this applies to 2015, the production of the play “Who Lives Well in Russia”, which we planned to do with the Yaroslavl Theater, co-production. This did not take place for various reasons. The directors could not agree, the terms of co-production are not spelled out in Russian legislation.

Sixth entry: "We are trolling Stasik"?

Serebrennikov: “Who is Stasik? I dont know. But here I am writing in response: "Rzhaka." We are trolling some Stasik, but I don't know Stasik. But it is Anna who writes that they are trolling Stasik on FB. There is a funny correspondence, and we joke a lot. And this correspondence was on a daily basis. It's a joke".

Seventh entry:"I say: don't call anymore."

Serebrennikov explains: “I was annoyed that Yuri Konstantinovich was not able to find Maslyaeva and shake off the money from her, which, as I believe, she took for herself. We were not allowed to play the artist Meisinger from Yaroslavl, the artist Meisinger did not give us an award at some ceremony, I was offended by him, it seemed to me that he was merging with the Gogol Center project.

Eighth entry: “Really pissing, does not want to get involved with the Gogol Center.

It seemed to me that Yuri Konstantinovich in the Yaroslavl Theater had the aesthetics of such a state state theater, - Serebrennikov comments, - and the Gogol Center was fanned notoriety"Otmorozkov" (a play based on Prilepin's play - "MBKh Media"), and we have very blurry aesthetics, and Yuri Konstantinovich built a large state-owned enterprise and was very friendly with the Ministry of Culture, and therefore, it seemed to me, he did not really want to get involved with us because we had a bad boy reputation.

last record: “Shameful to ask them to humiliate themselves. May they burn in hell!”

“We are talking about the fact that the “Platform” was in the plan for several more years. And so we asked the question: “Will the Platform continue?” - says Serebrennikov. - And we were told in the ministry: "No, the money allocated from the budget goes to other projects, the Platform will not continue for more than these three years." This is 2014. All. The final. And there was a rollback in terms of support for contemporary art. I learned this from Apfelbaum. And we commented on it.

So I write: “It is shameful to ask them to humiliate themselves. May they burn in hell!”

What does all this correspondence have to do with the "theatrical business"?

The judge declares the session adjourned.

Kirill Serebrennikov was detained today and is suspected of embezzling silversmiths for almost 68 million rubles. From the very morning, everyone competes in what sauce is better to "serve the director", but few write the main thing.

In short, the story - in 2014, our artistic director with his ANO "Seventh Studio" signed an agreement with the Ministry of Culture and received subsidies from them for 66 and a half million rubles. With this money, it was only necessary to promote culture to the masses, namely to the regions of Russia.

In general, as you understand, it didn’t work out with culture, but according to the facts that surfaced, it did with the purchase of toothbrushes for performances at the Gogol Center for 1399 rubles a piece.

But brushes, this is true, just one of the "curious" moments, there is also an investigation that he himself won tenders through his IP, but let's leave this to the investigation.

Personally, I am most upset by his "cultural" work - here is a photo from the production of "Nureyev" by Kirill Serebryannikov at the Bolshoi Theater. For those who misunderstood - a bare ass without panties is hidden behind a blurry rectangle.

Rather, even more of his "work" bothers me than infa that he compromised something somewhere (this does not surprise me at all .....)

How do you like the stage backdrop for the ballet "Nureyev" at the Bolshoi State Theater of Russia? Well "banned" ...

That is why, when a srach begins on the topic of Serebrennikov and his case, quickly picked up by well-known personalities who immediately begin to defend him, I don’t even somehow reflect. It's my own fault...

What do you think of all this?