Personality – Page 3 – Hit.Media. Space young journalism

“Journalistic is not a profession to come into, it is a profession to be seduced”
Cheese maker, journalist, and optimist Halina Spasskaya speaks about the ability of living how you want

Reading time 6 minutes

When Moscow began to grow beyond Sadovoe ring, I was working as a cheese making technologist. I was able to distinguish 100 kinds of cheese. But one day I accidentally turned up at the radio-station and fell in love with it. Journalistic is not a profession to come into, it is a profession to be seduced.

Love and session

I entered Moscow state university but was dropped out of it at the end of the first year. Thus, I understood once and for all my life that love and session are incompatible. My choice was never in favour of session… It is a family feature: my grandfather was expelled from a seminary because of his love affairs. By the way, he married a beautiful woman and became an engineer. He worked at Kurskiy railway station, so lobbied landowner L’vova’s interests when she decided to divide her estate into sites and sell them for dachas. Exactly that dachas are said to be described in “Vishneviy sad” by Chekhov. As for the faculty of journalism, I finished it in Moscow State University of Printing Arts.

“Tyoshcha”, convicts and full bears

This painting was drawn by Halina Romanovna's pupil. By common consent of her old friends, it depicts her character most of all. — This painting was drawn by Halina Romanovna’s pupil. By common consent of her old friends, it depicts her character most of all

One day I was promptly sent to the event in Onega at White sea. When I rushed to the ticket office, it turned out that Onega can be reached just by the only trailer car which went once a week. That trailer car had already gone. That is why I developed the tactic and went with changes to Plesetsk then by Murmansk train to the station from which train for workers, “tyoshcha”, went twice a day. However, I did not count that Murmansk railway was a single-track one and after driving through one section, the train waited for the oncoming one to do the same. Due to this fact, I missed the “tyoshcha”. So, I went to the station masters-on-duty and said that I had to be in Onega till 7 p.m when the event started. They replied, “Easy as pie! Once you have gone right through the taiga about 2 or 3 km, you will see the road along which convicts are carrying the forest. They will give you a lift. People as people. Don’t be frightened, bears are full in Autumn”. Well, I am a sensible woman I asked for another way. It was pretty suitable. Girls stopped the passing locomotive, “You’ ll be transferred to the track crossover. We’ve called the duty. She’ll stop the oncoming car to Onega”. How unique northern people are! I was afraid that convicts might pass by but the duty reassured, “Don’t worry, I closed the crossover, nobody can pass by without stopping”. Yeah, they gave me a lift, so I was in time for the event.

PhD’s envy

Nowadays Halina Romanovna takes any possibility to travel, though, by more comfortable transport. She prefers rucksacks to suitcases which never takes with her

My progress in journalistic was quick I became an editor at “Podolsk-radio” but still felt that I have lack of knowledge in social science. That is why I started searching for places where I could study. At that very time Institute of Sociology of the Russian Academy of Sciences was opened. It was the only place where sociologists were taught and I was lucky to get after-graduate programme as academic Igor Bestuzhev-Lada tutee. I was attracted by the programme of social psychology. Studying was splendiferous: lectures were held once a week and we got wages for it. Moreover, a month time off was given to us to prepare a dissertation and we could take another one without salary to finish it. Of course, I used them all! My husband envied he said, “I am a scientist of the Russian Academy of Sciences and I have only 45 days off while you have 54”.

Don’t wait – live now

In childhood my health was poor. I had congenital heart disease and diabetes but father always told me, “You can always lie as an ill person but you ought to live energetically. Now”. He taught me to ride a horse, drive a car, swim. There is a 300 metres long pond in our town and father said that I should swim it across to learn how to swim. I was stunned. It was scary… However, I succeeded at the second try. When I was floundering, he held me up. My father skied with me, let me drive a motorbike, even sent me to a shooting club. By the way, I had the first ranking because I could shoot 96 targets from 100. In my opinion, active social lifestyle starts when you stop frightening of working.

Halina Romanovna's Instagram page — Halina Romanovna’s Instagram page

Nowadays, Galina Romanovna is Podolsk star. Over 17 hundred of people are subscribed to her Instagram blog. “Orel i reshka. Babushka” casting must have added fame indeed.

Tarkovsky is back to large screens again
"Solaris" will be released on New Year's holidays in a restored form

Reading time 4 minutes

On December 26, one of the most famous films directed by Andrei Tarkovsky will be released in 70 cities of Russia. It is a movie adaptation of the novel “Solaris” written by a Polish writer, Stanislav Lem. The film was first released in 1972. Immediately after the premiere, it received recognition from the general public and positive reviews from critics both in the USSR and abroad. This is proved by such awards as the Special Jury Grand Prix and the FIPRESCI Prize at the 1972 International Cannes Film Festival, the Prize at the XXVIII International Karlovy Vary Film Festival in 1972, etc. Also, the picture is often recognized as one of the best science fiction movies in the history of cinema. Interestingly, the author of the original source did not accept Tarkovsky’s work.

Андрей Тарковский на съемках «Соляриса» — Andrei Tarkovsky on the set of Solaris

The plot of the film tells a story about the interaction of people with an alien mind discovered on the distant planet Solaris. Like many other Tarkovsky’s films, the main theme of Solaris is various existential problems of a person, such as awareness of self-hatred or acceptance of one’s own fears. The main roles were played by Sergei Bondarchuk’s daughter, Natalia, the famous Lithuanian actor Donatas Banionis, one of the regular actors in Tarkovsky’s films, Anatoly Solonitsyn, as well as Yuri Yarvet, Vladislav Dvorzhetsky and Nikolai Grinko.

Наталья Бондарчук и Донатас Банионис на постере «Соляриса» — Natalia Bondarchuk and Donatas Banionis on the “Solaris” ‘s poster

Restoration of “Solaris” has been carried out at the Mosfilm studio since 2011. Such a long period is a standard for films released more than 40-50 years ago. All defects of the old movie should be eliminated by specialists manually: color correction and sound recording errors. To achieve maximum quality after the restoration, professionals have been working on old materials for years. In addition, “Solaris” is the second restored Tarkovsky’s film in the last year. In October 2018, his 1979 film “Stalker” was released for re-rental. It was about a journey to a mystical room located in a certain forbidden zone. According to rumors, any human desire could be fulfilled there. Just like Solaris, the dramatic parable quickly became a cult and was awarded at the International Cannes Film Festival. Anton Dolin, an editor of the “Cinema Art” magazine, noted that Tarkovsky is one of the few representatives of Soviet cinema whose films still regularly resonate with young people. And not only in Russia: “Stalker” is regularly included in the list of 250 best films according to users of the world’s largest cinema website IMDB. At the moment, the picture is on 181 place. That is why, Dolin believes that the re-releasing of such films on the big screen is justified.

Кадр из фильма «Сталкер» — Shot from the movie “Stalker”

The Irishman is on top
American critics call Scorsese's "Irishman" the best movie of 2019

Reading time 5 minutes

The National Council of Critics of the United States recognized Martin Scorsese’s movie “Irishman” as the best film of 2019. This title is one of the most prestigious one for any Hollywood film. In different years the title was given to the “Silence of the Lambs” (1991), “Schindler’s List” (1993), “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and others. The “Irishman” is the second Scorsese’s work to be awarded with this title. The first one was the 2011 adventure film “The Guardian of Time”. In addition, a screenwriter, Stephen Zellian, also received an award for the best adapted screenplay.

Martin Scorsese is regularly recognized as one of the greatest filmmakers of all time. For example, in 2010, a popular American film and music magazine, Paste conducted a survey that showed that readers rated Scorsese as the best director alive. He was ahead of Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch and many others.

Мартин Скорсезе — Director of the “Irishman” movie Martin Scorsese

“The Irishman” is a crime drama based on the novel “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt. It describes the real story of trade unionist, Frank Sheeran, nicknamed “The Irishman,” associated with the Bufalinos mafia family. The budget of the film was about $ 150 million.

The main roles were played by Robert de Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, Harvey Keitel and other famous Hollywood actors. Interestingly, de Niro and Pesci haven’t participated in Scorsese’s works for 24 years. Their last collaboration was the movie “Casino” in 1995. Moreover, after this film, Scorsese stopped shooting criminal dramas, switching to other genres. That is why the “Irishman” is also interesting as a kind of Scorsese’s return to his earlier works.

Джо Пеши (слева) и Роберт де Ниро (справа) в фильме "Казино" — Joe Pesci (left) and Robert de Niro (right) in the movie “Casino”

When creating the film, motion capture technology was used. It transfers the facial expressions and body movements of a real actor to a digitized computer model. This was done in order to show the main characters of the picture at different ages, without using makeup. This technology was popularized in the first half of the 2000s by a director, Peter Jackson, who used motion capture to create images of Gollum in the trilogy Lord of the Rings (2001-2003) and the King Kong movie (2005). The films were commercially successful, welcomed by the critics, and received many awards, in particular, the Oscars for the best visual effects.

Использование motion capture в фильме — Using motion capture in “Irishman”

The film is an exclusive product of Netflix company. It means that it is impossible to watch it in cinemas or on other entertainment streaming platforms. The “Irishman” was first shown on September 27 at the New York Film Festival. On November 1, it went on limited rental at 8 cinemas in New York and Los Angeles. On November 27, the film became available for viewing via Netflix subscription.

Tourism as a State of mind
Report on the trekking marathon in november forest

Reading time 7 minutes

— Hey, guys, it’s time to go. The halt is over. Is everybody here? Hmm… Sasha… Where is he? Has anybody seen him recently? Well, the participant has gone let’s find him!

That was the beginning of “Medicine” part of “Noyabr’skiy marathon” , the contest organized by Hiking club of NRU HSE. Somewhere in Moscow region forests four girls and three boys searched for the fourth boy in the twilight. He hadn’t been seen since the beginning of the halt until 15 minutes later he was found at a spruce windfall. Sasha pretended that he was a sufferer with broken leg. We were to perform the first aid and carry him to the ambulance. Not in a serious way but as training. It was the challenge of “Medicine” part.

Firstly, we examined the “injured” person in the dusk, secondly, immobilized “broken bone” with trekking mats, ropes and sticks after dark. At the same time we were binding a stretcher. If a group is small and lights of lanterns are not pretty bright, the forest seems to be infinite and pitch-dark while people seem to be just small glow-worms that have to carry “injured”, into the civilisation. Where the civilisation was, everyone might have already forgotten because all trails couldn’t be seen.

You need a 30 metres long rope and at least 5 friends to make a good stretcher. — You need a 30 metres long rope and at least 5 friends to make a good stretcher

The darkness was close to making Sahsa actually injured. Having put mats and jackets on the stretcher, we laid Sahsa on it and fastened him. When we lifted the construction, one log cracked, therefore, we had to fix it and hold the load on the rope. Walking through spruce windfall, we saw that two trees are too close to one another to walk between. Despite that fact, we had to go there as it was impossible to walk around. That’s why a couple of metres Saha was carried sideways perpendicularly to the Earth with his left side what made him scream with protest.

“Medicine” was not the only part of the contest. In each of three days participants faced up to three or four challenges. There they practiced skills essential for hiking and trekking. As the organisers had found themselves in different situations within their experience, challenges varied a lot. The next one, “Byt”:

— Are you going to take the backpack till the morning?

— Of course.

— This backpack for the whole night?

— Yeah, for the whole night.

— Will you, indeed?

— Actually, don’t postpone, give it now.

In this challenge we had to imagine that our group made the camp on the rock ledge of a sheer mountain side and one of backpacks fell into abyss. No sooner had we unbound the stretcher from “Medicine”, we started the discussion who would be that one without gear at night. The discussion looked like this: we pulled matches. Well, at that moment my heart was in my mouth. I thought that I just couldn’t bear sleep without warm sleeping bag and a sweater as it was freezing… and pulled a short match. In the group report my emotions were described in this way, “Lisa was deprived of her possessions. Luckily, she didn’t carry any joint gear”.

Tourists are unaware of bed weather, they are aware of good gear

Yeah, it was a luck because we didn’t lose the dinner consisted of bulgar and chicken fillet with sour cream or tents and axes. Night stay without them would have been much more tricky than without first aid and two bars of chocolate. Nevertheless, I still had to sleep without gear. In a windy and cold night it was scary. To solve this problem, we organized a brainstorm. As a result, all of us came to the conclusion that I should sleep with my friend in her large sleeping bag. Trekking unites, doesn’t it? Guys gave me warm clothes too. By the way, at the evening gathering at the fire I looked like a disco mirror ball as the special blanket in which I was wrapped reflected the light.

Hardships were waiting for the participants both at the challenge-parts and on the road. The next day when groups had to walk 30 km, according to the plan, all of them faced a life-long green fence. It was so long that “Petushki” team decided to go through the swamp in the darkness just not to walk around the fence. “Oi” team walked around the fence and figured out that three sides of it were approximately 3,5 km long. That way took them two hours… Our team “Schastlivyy sluchay [Happy occasion]” affirmed the name and found the hole in the fence. Behind tall metal sections was hidden a field. An ordinary field. Later we saw a road and lights of houses, though we were unable to understand what their habitants fenced. That is why the fence was named irrational in the reports.

"Petushki" repeatedly went across swamps. Difficult in daylight, such route is much more tricky at night — “Petushki” repeatedly went across swamps. Difficult in daylight, such route is much more tricky at night

“Noyabr’skiy marathon” was 60 km of roads and trails, fields and windfalls, heels and swamps. Three teams of beginners and advanced tourists. Three days of jokes and adventures, two nights of songs. One unforgettable competition.

3 countries provided the Moscow museum with Marc Chagall’s works
The exposition of Russian-born Jewish artist is exhibited in New Jerusalem

Reading time 3 minutes

Modern Art paintings were provided by The Centre Pompidou in Paris, The Museum of Marc Chagall in Vitebsk, The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Chagall Museum in Nice and private collections from Russia, France and Belarus. The project’s curator was Ekaterina Selezneva, an expert from the Marc Chagall committee in Paris. She explains why the exhibition is hosted in The New Jerusalem: “All his life the artist was searching for His Jerusalem”. The New Jerusalem appeared in the vicinity of Moscow in the middle of the XVII century. Patriarch Nikon planned to create an architectural copy of the Holy Land near the capital. And in the XX century, a museum was built in the monastery. It was then separated from the monastery and began to operate independently. This New Jerusalem History became an impulse for the organizers to talk about religion, life and love on The New Jerusalem’s soil, taking as an interlocutor the artist Marc Chagall, who also managed to combine religious traditions and cultural spaces.

“Twelve Tribes of Israel” were created by Marc Chagall in 1959-1960. Private Collection

The exhibition features 238 works of art, including 22 sketches that Russian viewers will see for the first time as well as 105 biblical engravings. The last ones the artist painted by hand and gave as a gift to his second wife Vava Chagall.

"Portrait of Vava" was created in 1966 in Paris. You can the Eiffel Tower at the top right and The Paris Opera at the bottom — “Portrait of Vava” was created in 1966 in Paris. You can the Eiffel Tower at the top right and The Paris Opera at the bottom. Private collection

The idea of the exhibition is expressed by the words of Marc Chagall himself: “Painting seemed to me some kind of window through which I flew into another world.” He claimed that he was “born between heaven and earth” and constantly resided in this “intermediate” space, understanding his existence in art and life, as being in a special dimension. For Chagall, there is no distance between the visible and the imaginary, between the subject and the symbol, between the concrete and the abstract. “He carries everything with himself” – as one of his key characters – a wanderer flying over the city with a bag over his shoulders, in which he carries all his belongings. “Honestly, I am a man with one house and a single picture,” the artist assured.

The work Chagall is most famous for is «‎Over the city» appeared in 1913. The Tretyakov Gallery

“Chagall’s characters are simply endowed with the gift of flying – like birds or angels. They are light, like happy love, weightless, like a dream, directed to heaven, like a balloon. The sky for them is the same habitat as the earth. Love transfers Chagall to other worlds, to distant and near cities,” says curator Ekaterina Selezneva.

«Clock with Blue Wing», created in 1914. Private collection in Paris — “Clock with Blue Wing”, created in 1914. Private collection in Paris

The title of the exhibition “Chagall: Between Heaven and Earth” refers to various periods of the artist’s career. His works of the first quarter of the XX century were devoted to “earthly life”. The paintings of the next 25 years are connected with “travels and bridges”. It was then, in 1931, that the author visited Israel. Paintings of the late period of his life may be characterized as “heavenly being”.

Rihanna named world’s richest female musician
Forbes estimated the fortune of a pop diva at $600 million

Reading time 3 minutes

Popular singer Rihanna topped the list of the richest women in the music industry. She received this status thanks to a large contract with a world leader in the production of luxury clothes LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. The corporation includes such brands as Louis Vuitton, Guerlain, Moët & Chandon, Givenchy, Chaumet and Hennessy. LVMH is headed by billionaire Bernard Arnaud, his family is in 4th place on the Forbes list. Arno’s fortune is estimated at $76 billion.

Renowned singer and LVMH have been working together on Fenty Beauty luxury cosmetics brand since 2017. At the initial stage, sales of the line simultaneously covered the Internet and 1,620 stores in more than 17 countries of the world. Products also represented the largest network of cosmetics stores Sephora, which is also owned by LVMH. Within a few weeks of sales, the new cosmetic line brought the creators about $100 million. An important success factor was the promotion of the brand in an Instagram-star account, which is followed by 72 million users. In 2018, the creators of Fenty Beauty earned about $570 million.

LVMH presumably owns 50% of the company, while the singer owns 15%. The official representative of Rihanna denied this information, but he did not share the exact data.

In addition to the cosmetic brand, Rihanna is also promoting her Savage X Fenty underwear line. The singer leads this project together with a large retailer TechStyle Fashion Group. The main idea of the brand is that beauty is different, and girls should not be ashamed of their bodies.

View this post on Instagram

Ready for the midnight May drop? Don't sleep on the new @savagexfenty. Get it May 1st!

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on Apr 30, 2019 at 1:08pm PDT

In May of this year, a popular singer with the support of the LVMH corporation presented her own fashion house Fenty. The brand creates luxury clothing, shoes, accessories and jewelry. Rihanna believes that Bernard Arno is the best partner in business and in creativity. According to the singer, the general director of LVMH gave the actress complete freedom of action and trusted her taste.

View this post on Instagram

The wonderful Mr. Bernard Arnault. So grateful for the opportunity to partner with this man at @LVMH @FENTY !!

A post shared by badgalriri (@badgalriri) on May 23, 2019 at 8:38am PDT

Fenty luxury brand has become the first fashion house created by Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton in the last 30 years. The line from Rihanna promotes the principles of inclusion and offers a wide range of sizes.

From Jay-Z to Drake: Richest Rappers
The Forbes rating is headed by the first billionaire in hip-hop culture — Jay-Z

Reading time 7 minutes

In early June, an influential financial publication Forbes published a list of the richest rap artists. The wealthiest rapper in the world is a hip-hop artist Jay-Z, the husband of the famous R’n’B singer Beyoncé. In early 2000s he sang: «I’m already the G.O.A.T. — next stop is the billie». So it happened: today the musician’s capital is one billion dollars. Jay-Z became the first owner of a billion dollars in the history of hip-hop culture.

Jay-Z (Shawn Corey Carter) for the second year in a row becomes the wealthiest rapper in the world

The rapper invested in a private company Uber, music service Tidal, alcohol production company Armand de Brignac и D`Uss. The musician gains his profit from concerts and Roc Nation service, and also a partnership with the recording Studio Def Jam. The real estate of Jay-Z and his wife Beyoncé is estimated at $50 million, and the collection of art objects — $ 70 million.

The younger generation of hip-hop artists takes Jay-Z as an example of success. TV presenter and novice rapper Fab 5 Freddy believes that Jay-Z — an example of how to make the real American dream come true.

Second place — Dr. Dre, $800 million

Dr. Dre (Andre Romelle Young ) was considered the richest artist in hip-hop culture until March 2018

Five years ago, Dr. Dre. declared himself the owner of a billion dollars. However, Forbes did not confirm this information about his financial condition. In 2014, the musician sold his line of headphones Beats by Dr. Dre to Apple for three billion dollars. He owned approximately 20-25% of the company’s shares. For the deal with Apple, hip-hop artist received an advance of about $500 million. Only last summer the company paid Dr. Dre remaining fee, however, even this did not help him top the Forbes’s list.

In recent years, the artist has put his music in the background. Dr. Dre invested his money in real estate and charity. He bought a huge Villa in California for $40 million. Together with partner Jimmy Iovine, he also invested $70 million in the development of the Academy of Arts at the University of Southern California.

Third place — Diddy, $740 million

In 2017, P. Diddy (Sean John Combs) was recognized as the wealthiest hip-hop artist

Hip-hop artist Diddy earned his first money at the age of 12 by selling newspapers. He admitted this in an interview in the anniversary issue of Forbes. At that time the edition considered Diddy to be the wealthiest and most influential rap artist.

Now the musician takes the third place in the list of the richest rappers. Market fluctuations have a negative impact on his business projects. The most unprofitable were the cable business Revolt and the clothing brand Sean John.

However, the rapper Diddy owns a successful business as well. For example, the production of luxury vodka Ciroc. Products give the musician a lot of money, as the volume of sales has increased in recent years. According to Forbes, Diddy will soon replace Jay-Z and become a billionaire.

Fourth place — Kanye West, $240 million

The famous performer and husband of epotage Kim Kardashian Kanye West ranks fourth in the list of wealthy colleagues. Recently, the musician can be spotted at private Sunday services on the South coast. West also held an Easter service at the largest Coachella festival.

In 2016, the musician told about his debt of $53 million. Then he suggested the Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to invest one billion dollars in his projects. In 2019, Kanye West still entered the top five wealthy artists in hip-hop culture, but thanks to another source of investment. Kanye West has a partnership with the sports brand Adidas for more than one year. Prior to this brand, the artist had a contract with Nike. This collaboration with Adidas brings huge income to the rapper, his line of sneakers Yeezy is gaining more and more popularity. According to Forbes, if Yeezy sales do not stop growing, Kanye West will become a billionaire thanks to the business.

Fifth place — Drake, $150 million

Concludes the list of the richest hip-hop artists 32-year-old canadian rapper Drake. But he is already catching up with his colleagues: over the past year, his musician’s capital has doubled. Drake has invested in real estate and in its own brand of whiskey Virginia Black. The rapper cooperates with the XS Nightclub in Las Vegas, which also brings the rapper a large fee.

In 2013, the musician admitted that earning more money is one of his main goals. And he sticks to the plan: since that time, the average price tag for one concert of the artist has grown from $500,000 to more than two million dollars.

Vedomosti, Kommersant and RBC published the same front page for the first time in history
They were all dedicated to Ivan Golunov, who was supported by the journalistic community

Reading time 4 minutes

Russia’s three major business newspapers supported the decision of the Moscow Nikulinsky District Court. It placed journalist Ivan Golunov under house arrest. Earlier, the Investigative Committee of Russia demanded that Gounov be placed in a detention facility. Journalists called to check the actions of the investigation and provide the results of the check to the mass media.

Historical editions of newspapers were sold in Moscow and St. Petersburg, Interfax reports. Residents of cities also reported this on social networks. The owners of newsstands claim that such a rush around the publications Vedomosti, Kommersant and RBC has never happened before. New editions of newspapers are available on Aeroflot’s aircraft, as well as in Starbucks, Coffeemania, and Maccafe coffee shops.

В очереди к очередному киоску поинтересовалась, журналисты ли:- Студент Бауманки- Преподаватель английского – ИнженерСпасибо

Опубликовано Каролиной Гладковой Понедельник, 10 июня 2019 г.

пикетируем в самолёте москва-брюссель pic.twitter.com/BIDttdptxv

— j.s. (@sugueva) June 10, 2019

Medusa’s special correspondent Ivan Golunov was detained on June 6. He is suspected of drug trafficking on a large scale. Golunov does not recognize the guilt. He is convinced that the persecution is related to his professional activities. We are talking about the investigation of the funeral business – the material on corruption. The journalistic community stands with him.

Ivan Golunov denies participation in the sale of narcotic drugs. As proof, he offered the investigators to take the nail cuts, but he was refused. Journalists considered such a response illegal and arranged a rally of support. The next day, the examination was still appointed – tests did not reveal any drug traces.

У здания управления МВД по Москве пикеты не прекращаются и ночью — Single pickets near the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Pickets in support of the journalist do not stop. The special correspondent of Novaya Gazeta and the municipal deputy Ilya Azar said that the actions at Petrovka in Moscow would continue until the release of Ivan Golunov. The journalist was one of the first to speak out in support of a colleague on June 7 and went to a single picket.

Hundreds of people gather at Petrovka to support the journalist

Actions of solidarity are also held in other regions of Russia, for the first time the journalistic community has united on such a scale.

Tarantino made a romantic film with a terrible ending
The love story of Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski which turned into a tragedy

Reading time 8 minutes

«Once Upon a Time in Hollywood», a three hours long retro filmed by Quentin Tarantino, was shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The film is based on the real events of 1969. The main roles were performed by Leonardo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie played the main character. The film is timed to the 50th anniversary of the death of Hollywood actress Sharon Tate.

Margot Robbie played the main character in the «Once Upon a Time in Hollywood» movie

Sharon Tate was one of the most beautiful Actresses of her generation. She became widely known after her role in the film “Valley of the Dolls” in 1967. At that time, the young actress also married the famous Director Roman Polanski. Hollywood couple attracts attention: she is a young actress with model features, he is a talented, but not the most charming Director.

Sharon Tate and Roman Polanski got married in 1967

During World War II Polanski and his family got into the Krakow Ghetto. Having seen all the horrors of the war, the Director shot his movies in dark colors and the genre of psychological thriller. Sharon is the complete opposite: she was born and raised in the American family of the officer. Since childhood, she participated in various beauty contests and aspired to world fame.

She began her actress career as a model at beauty contests in the US

Polanski and Tate met at a casting for the film «The Fearless Vampire Killers» in 1967. «She made a big impression on me and I called her,» says Polanski about their first meeting. During the filming of the movie, between the Director and the actress broke out romantic feelings. Polanski was patient with Tate, who suffered from her inexperience in the film industry. Once they needed seventy takes for just one scene.

In the «The Fearless Vampire Killers» the Director also acted as the lover of Tate’s character

Sharon Tate broke off her engagement to her longtime lover Jay Sebring because of Polanski. For two years, the Hollywood couple enjoyed the relationship and traveled the world. The Director often took his Muse on business trips and on film shoots. In early 1969, the Polanskis learned about the imminent addition to the family.

Despite the label of the most unusual couple of Hollywood, Tate was happily being married to Polanski

In the summer of 1969 in Europe, Polanski was shooting his new film — «The Day of the Dolphin». Tate was with him, but due to her pregnancy she left for America. When she said goodbye to her husband, Sharon was very much worried, as if she felt that this was their last meeting.The Director embracing his pregnant wife thought that he might not see her again. But quickly pushed away the bad thoughts.

The couple was waiting for their firstborn, who already had a name — Paul Richard

In a country house near Los Angeles, Tate spent the summer days waiting for her husband. On the 8th of August, 1969, the actress spoke with Polanski, who once again postponed his arrival to America. That night, Tate’s sisters were supposed to look after her, but Sharon refused their help. Without knowing it, she saved the lives of her family.

The motives for the murder of Sharon Tate and her friends are still not disclosed

The evening of the same day Tate spent in the company of her friends, when followers of Charles Manson broke into her house. They massacred everyone, including two random witnesses. Sharon was 9 months pregnant and begged to spare her unborn child, but the cultists only tortured her. They wrote «Pig» on the front door in her blood. This crime was recognized as the most brutal in the XX century.

Roman Polanski allowed to take a picture of himself with the inscription, which was left by the killers of his wife

Roman Polanski could not come to his senses for a long time and suspected all of his friends in this murder. Only after the arrest of Charles Manson’s group, the Director calmed down, but could not continue shooting the film «The Day of the Dolphin». He believed that it was because of this project he had to leave his beloved wife. Polanski returned to his work with the film «Macbeth», in which he used a lot of blood and cruelty. When the English film critic Kenneth Turan reproached him for this, he replied: «You were not at my house last summer».

Roman Polanski admitted that he tried to commit suicide several times because of the loss of his pregnant wife

Polanski did not give his permission to Quentin Tarantino to use his story in the film. Because of that, the current wife of the Director criticized Tarantino. He, in turn, addressed the sister of Sharon who approved the project.

Holocaust through the prism of modernity
The story of 13-year-old Hungarian Jew Eva Heyman recreated in Instagram

Reading time 5 minutes

The story of the Jewish girl Eva Heyman, who died in the Auschwitz camp in 1944, was brought to live in Instagram. The creators of the project showed what would be the life of Eva if she posted on her social media everything she had been going through.

The eva.stories project recreates the events which Eva wrote about in her diary. It consists of 70 short videos that reflect the life of a Jewish family during the war years. Everything is depicted in insta-stories format, in the profile, the authors of the project posted only a poster and a trailer. The role of Eva Heyman is played by British actress Mia Quiney.

View this post on Instagram

Eva.Stories Official Trailer

A post shared by Eva (@eva.stories) on Apr 28, 2019 at 4:36am PDT

War first comes to Eva’s family when her cousin gets deported to Poland. After some time, the accomplices of the Nazis come to the pharmacy of the Eva’s grandfather and confiscate it in favor of the government. The decisive moment for Eva Heyman’s fate is the day when she sees the incoming Nazi army. From now on, she promises subscribers to broadcast everything that happens. The girl shows the details of life with a yellow star on her chest. In the ghetto.

Ева Хейман, жертва Холокоста — Eva Heyman is a Holocaust victim whose story served as a reminder of the tragedy

The project was sponsored by the Israeli businessman Mati Kochavi and his daughter Maya. It was launched on May 2nd, Holocaust Memorial Day. Before filming the story of Heyman, Mati and Maya Kochavi looked through about 30 diaries written by the victims of those events. But Eva’s diary stood out for its modernity and simpleness.

Злосчастная желтая звезда, которую евреи впоследствии были обязаны нашивать на наиболее заметные места своей одежды, стала самым зримым символом нацистского антисемитизма. — The Yellow star – a symbol of Nazi antisemitism, all Jews were obliged to sew it on prominent places of clothing

Before launching the eva.stories the authors widely announced the project both on street billboards and in social media. The initiative was supported by Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel. The account was also noted by different celebrities in their profiles, including the actress Gal Gadot («Wonder Woman») and the stand-up comedian Sarah Silverman. As a result, the account had around 200.000 followers before it was even launched. Now Eva’s profile has about 1.7 million subscribers.

Билборд с рекламой Instagram-аккаунта Eva.stories — The billboard advertising the Eva.stories Instagram account

The initiator and producer of the project Mati Kochavi believes that the world is beginning to forget about the terrible events of the Holocaust. That is why he created the project and invested about $5 million in it. Neither the government nor any organizations financed the creation of Eva’s profile.

Although, there are some critics on the way. Disputes in the comments under the publications in Eva’s profile do not cease. Users think that the profile is not serious enough. Critics of the project reckon that it is inappropriate to use Emoji, stickers and hashtags when it comes to the Holocaust. Many also criticize the implausibility of Eva’s modern story. For instance, how did the girl manage to charge the phone if there was no electricity in the ghetto?

According to Maya Kochavi, their team was expecting this kind of reaction as well. However, Kochavi family is convinced that they chose the best way to address the situation: the problem of antisemitism does not lose its relevance. Instagram platform was chosen for a reason: it was important to bring the issue to the younger generation.