Totalitarianism of Religion: Kirill Serebrennikov’s the Student (2016) & Russia’s Right Turn
Journal: CU Scholar (University of Colorado Boulder)
Year: 2018

This paper examines Russia’s contemporary sociopolitical environment through the lens of Russian director Kirill Serebrennikov’s 2017 arrest and his work The Student (2016)– a film exploring the effect of religious radicalization on a high school student and those around him, adapted from Marius von Mayenburg’s original play Martyr. By tracing religious and political undercurrents in Russia following Vladimir Putin’s rise to power, it becomes evident that Russian cultural producers are facing in