RUSSIAN YOGA SCHOOL

TitleRUSSIAN YOGA SCHOOL
BrandCOMMITTEE AGAINST TORTURE
Product/ServicePRODUCT / SERVICE
Category G04. Social Behaviour & Cultural Insight
Entrant ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
Idea Creation ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
Idea Creation 2 ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
Idea Creation 3 ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
PR ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
PR 2 ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
PR 3 ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
Production ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
Production 2 ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
Production 3 ZEBRA HERO Moscow, RUSSIA
Credits
Name Company Position
Elnara Ialaltdinova Zebra Hero Creative Group Head
Rinat Khusnutdinov Zebra Hero Creator
Oksana Bondarenko Zebra Hero Executive Producer
Anna Bokina Zebra Hero Agency Producer
Artem Tsaregorodtsev Zebra Hero Creative Director
Lena Samoilova Zebra Hero Account Director
Andrey Paukow Zebra Hero Production Director

Write a short summary of what happens in the film

Russian Yoga School is a social project concerning torture in Russia. It is a series of videos in which well-known actors and musicians describe widespread forms of torture as if they were yoga exercises. This way of presentation was chosen due to the fact that law enforcers cynically give the forms of torture the kinds of innocent names (“Swallow”, “Baby Elephant”, “Songbird”) better suited to yoga poses than brutal forms of abuse. It is this horrific paradox that the project’s creators have underlined.

Cultural / Context information for the jury

The issue: 1 in 10 Russians has experienced torture or threats of violence at the hands of law enforcement. A particularly serious - and often covered up - issue is that of torture. The client: Committee Against Torture is an organization that provides support to victims of torture, from assisting them and their families and conducting independent investigations to representing them at the European Court of Human Rights. Online newspaper Meduza is one of the few media agencies free from state censorship and raising important societal issues.