The Loneliness of Russia’s First Poet: Pushkin

Modern fighters for a free Russia raise questions about the problems of authoritarianism in their native country, just as dissidents raised these questions during the times of the USSR and the Russian Empire. Often, modern Russian liberals are forced to be abroad or under repression. Nevertheless, they recall the works of Bulgakov, the biographies of Solzhenitsyn, Likhachyov, and immerse themselves in the poetry of Pushkin in order to preserve in their consciousness the image of Russia as pure, unstained by the blood of political processes.

The documentary film by Ukrainian director Ilya Ganpantsura, based on his article in Front Porch Republic, tells about Russia at the beginning of the 19th century, the era of the Decembrists and the first poet, Pushkin, who, despite being the first poet of Russia and having no intellectual support in the past, by formulating and describing experiences and inner conflicts, created a legacy that became the foundation of the tradition of dissent.