Here’s Hoping Pussy Riot’s “Gay Propaganda” Video Sees the Light of Day Soon

The rebellious Russian punks’ latest video shoot was shut down by police due to its “extremism.”
Here’s Hoping Pussy Riot’s “Gay Propaganda” Video Sees the Light of Day Soon

The rebellious Russian punks’ latest video shoot was shut down by police due to its “extremism.”

Words: Mike LeSuer

February 10, 2020

In the midst of shooting a music video for a new song called “БЕСИТ / RAGE” yesterday, Russian punk provocateurs Pussy Riot were forced to scrap the production early when police shut down the operation citing a 2013 “gay propaganda” law allegedly being violated by the video’s cast of one hundred and fifty female and/or queer activists.

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“Russian political police commanded to the studio where we were shooting, ‘Lenfilm,’ to cut off electricity in the whole building,” the band shared in an Instagram post, which includes footage of both the music video and the debacle. “The single ‘БЕСИТ / RAGE’ is dedicated to a pain that we – feminists and the queer people – feel being the enemies of the state. ‘A police baton on my ribs, I’m singing with blood today’ – goes ‘БЕСИТ / RAGE’.”

They go on to explain that the confrontation cost them $15,000 before sharing PayPal (paypal.me/xxpussyriotxx) and Venmo (@nadyariot) handles in hopes of crowdsourcing the loss. “Many thanks for fucking fucked Russian cops, but we’re going to film this video anyway,” Nadya Tolokonnikova says in the video. We can only hope.

UPDATE: According to a recent tweet, Pussy Riot members Tolokonnikova and Sasha Sofeev and eleven others have been detained “with no explanation” during a photoshoot today in St. Petersburg.

 

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СБОР НА КЛИП / CROWDFUNDING FOR “RAGE” VIDEO Клип будет, мусора – позор России, всем 1312. Собираем на новые съемки – и, уверена, соберем. Прошлые, сорванные ментами, стоили нам $15к. ‪Столько мб и не собрать, но любая помощь в такой жопе – ?‬ Спасибо, коты. ЛОЛ Ленфильм заявил, что полиция, которую мы выложили в паблик, не настоящая, а АКТЕРЫ. Вы посмотрите на лица этого наряда и эшников – блин, если бы актер такое сыграл, ему бы уже дали оскар. БЕСИТ. paypal.me/xxpussyriotxx venmo: @nadyariot AlfaBank: 4154822024757158 ???‍♀️???‍♀️???‍♀️???‍♀️???‍♀️???‍♀️???‍♀️???‍♀️?Today, on the 9th of February 2020, St Petersburg, the Russian police broke into the location where Pussy Riot were filming a video for our next single “БЕСИТ / RAGE”. We were accused of “gay propaganda” and “extremism”. Russian political police commanded to the studio where we were shooting, “Lenfilm”, to cut off electricity in the whole building. Later we’ve been kicked out of the building – with no legal explanations. The single “БЕСИТ / RAGE” is dedicated to a pain that we – feminists and the queer people – feel being the enemies of the state. “A police baton on my ribs, I’m singing with blood today” – goes “БЕСИТ / RAGE”. 150 activists, mostly female or queer, took part in the shoot. We lost $15k on the video production today – because of the absurd “gay propaganda” law, and we’ll be thankful if you share this info and/or be kind enough to help us to raise the money to make this video happen anyway. paypal.me/xxpussyriotxx venmo: @nadyariot

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