In the West, Russia—through the prism of its leadership—is often imagined as a homogenous society and culture. This lecture will examine the issue of diversity— ethnic and sexual—as revealed in the Russian language popular culture.

The focus will be on representation of minorities in recent Russian cinema (e.g., F. Mikhaillov’s Jolly Men, F. Bondarchuk’s Attraction), including film produced in ‘ethnic’ autonomous republics such as the Sakha Republic in Russia’s North East.

This event is facilitated by Vlad Strukov is an Associate Professor in Film and Digital Culture at University of Leeds and is currently a visiting professor at the University of Copenhagen.