Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

This 2013 documentary, co-directed by Mike Lerner and Maxim Pozdorovkin, follows the trial that came after the Pussy Riot action in a Moscow cathedral. Emerging from the protests that rose across the country when Vladimir Putin returned to the presidency after the 2011 election, the group performed briefly in the church and three members were arrested. The film assembles courtroom footage, interviews with families and recordings of the action. Its most valuable quality is the space given to the defendants' families: the bewilderment, pride and fear of mothers and fathers takes the event out of the realm of political symbol and makes it concrete. The three women's statements from inside the glass cage in court are the film's centre. Its limit is not opening the group's artistic and political background far enough. Who it's for: viewers interested in opposition in Russia, freedom of expression cases and protest art. Who it's not for: anyone wanting a documentary that frames the subject neutrally, or who will find the action offensive on religious grounds.