When punk activists Pussy Riot were sentenced to two years in prison for their appearance in Moscow's Cathedral of Christ the Savior in 2012, it sparked protest rallies worldwide. This is just an example of what have been 10 years of show trials against artists in Russia, rendering free expression impossible. 

Milo Rau`s The Moscow Trials attempts to inject impetus into these rigid circumstances by presenting three formative trials in the form of political theater. In a reconstructed court in Moscow a re-enacted three-day trial show took place and provided the stage for the exponents of Russia's cultural war. There were no actors on stage; instead there were real-life protagonists: artists, politicians, church leaders, lawyers and judges. A lay court made up of six Moscow residents reached a verdict for or against artistic freedom. The concept was not simple reenactment of the historic trials, the basic conditions were given by the director, but the progress and outcome of the trial were affected by the protagonists. 

The documentary film shows the trial as well as interview material. After the screening, author and director Milo Rau will participate in a public conversation. 

Milo Rau is author, director, and founder of International Institute of Political Murder (IIPM). He studied sociology, German, and Romance languages in Paris, Zurich, and Berlin. He has published with New Journal of Zurich since 2000 and his work as director has appeared at the Maxim Gorki Theater in Berlin, Staatsschauspiel Dresden, HAU Berlin, Theaterhaus Gessnerallee Zurich, Teatrul Odeon Bucharest, and Beursschouwburg in Brussels. His theatrical re-enactments and films have been invited to national and international festivals. In 2007, Rau founded IIPM to strengthen the exchange between theatre, the fine arts, and film. Alongside his work for stage and film, Milo Rau lectures on direction, cultural theory and social sculpture at various universities and colleges.

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