Tango with Putin: Fighting for Free Media in Russia

The Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies and Center for Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies are pleased to co-sponsor a screening of Vera Krichevskaya's film, "Tango with Putin: Fighting for Free Media in Russia," a documentary that traces the growth and eventual shuttering of Dozhd TV (TV Rain), the last independent TV station in Russia. Using founder Natalia Sindeeva's experiences, the film explores the realities faced by journalists trying to push back against the Kremlin's highly controlled media landscape.

Following the screening, FSI Director and former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul will lead a discussion and audience Q&A with the filmmakers.

Please register for the event in advance. The screening is open to all, and seating is on a first-come basis.

About the Film
 

In 2008, 35-year-old Natasha was a newly rich, successful woman looking for fame, reputation, and for dreams to come true. She decided to launch an independent TV station in Putin’s Russia. Unlike the state-sponsored outlets, Natasha hired opposition reporters and minorities, activists and LGBTQ community members. Soon, her project became the lone island of political and sexual freedom. For 12 years, Dozhd TV (also known as TV Rain) remained the only independent news TV station in Russia. 

What Natasha couldn't have known was that she and her station would end up on the frontlines of the war between truth and propaganda, face financial ruin, and eventually lose the motherland she had worked so hard to reform. On March 3, 2022 TV Rain was shut down by the Russian state on the sixth day of the war in Ukraine. But it is not the end of the story.
 

About the People

Natalya Sindeeva is a co-founder, main owner, and chief executive officer of the Dozhd TV (TV Rain) Media Holding, which includes Dozhd TV and Republic.ru. Co-founder and former general producer of the Silver Rain radio station, founder of the Silver Galosh anti-award. Three times laureate of the "Media Manager of Russia" prize, honorary academician of the Russian Academy of Radio, and a laureate of the Moscow Helsinki Group Prize for the Protection of Human Rights.

Vera Krichevskaya is a co-founder of Dozhd TV (TV Rain) and an award-winning television director and producer who has held numerous roles at NTV Channel, ICTV Channel and 24DOC TV. Her feature documentaries include “Tango with Putin: Fighting for Free Media in Russia”, "The Citizen Poet," "The Man Who Was Too Free," and "The Case" ("Delo Sobchaka"). In 2013, Vera was a World Press Institute Fellow.