University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

System rejected

(USC Thesis Other)

System rejected

PDF

Download a page range

Download transcript

Copy asset link

Request this asset

Transcript (if available)

Content SYSYEM REJECTED

System Rejected
By
Shushanik Minasian

A Thesis Presented to the

Faculty of Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism

University of Southern California

In Partial Fulfilment of the

Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts

(SPECIALIZED JOURNALISM)

DECEMBER 2019

Copyright 2019 Shushanik Minasian
SYSYEM REJECTED
II

Dedication

This documentary is dedicated to my husband, Gevorg Galstyan, who has
supported me and stood by me in this challenging journey of becoming a first-time documentary
filmmaker. He was my first viewer, wise advisor and fair critic. It was he who gave me the
strength to stay firm in my decisions as a storyteller, even when it seemed they were too risky
and unrealistic to be followed with the limited resources and time. This film would not be
possible without this person.
SYSYEM REJECTED
III

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank my professor Dan Birman for being an inspiration for me to pursue
the path of documentary filmmaking. I have been lucky to have a teacher who has been rooting
for me and cared so much about my work. Your understanding, encouragement, and belief in me
have been just priceless.
To the members of my thesis committee, Professor Joe Saltzman and Professor Sally
Pratt, thank you for your guidance and fair judgment of my work. I also want to express my
gratitude and appreciation to the faculty members, Professor Megan Chao and Professor Susy
Barkley for shared love, patience and advice.
SYSYEM REJECTED
IV

Table of Contents
1. Documentary Background .................................................................................................. 1
2. Conclusion ...........................................................................................................................7
3. Documentary Script ............................................................................................................. 8
4. Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 25
SYSYEM REJECTED
1

Documentary Background

System Rejected is a documentary about Russian political asylum seekers in the
United States. This film follows the stories of three characters who were oppressed by the
current Russian regime because of political opinion, religious views and sexual orientation.
I lived and worked as a journalist in Russia, and I am aware of the war the Russian
government wages against its people it considers to be uncomfortable for different reasons. In
my country, very little news is being reported on “political immigration” to Europe and America.
It mostly revolves around a few prominent critics to the Russian President Vladimir Putin such
as an exiled former oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky or a former world chess champion and
political activist Garry Kasparov. There is almost no coverage of ordinary Russians who do not
have political or financial capital, who are not famous or even recognizable, but who have
important stories to tell. I myself have discovered it only when I moved to Los Angeles in May
2017. I could not have expected to see so many of my compatriots, with their lives upturned, to
have come to the United States hoping to find protection, peace and freedom.
After some research, I have found out my everyday life observations have authoritative
confirmation. According to the USCIS Annual Flow Report. Refugees And Asylees: 2017, there
was a sharp surge in asylum cases from Russia in 2017 compared to a year before: 2649 cases in
2017 versus 1909 cases in 2016.
1
This is almost a forty-percent increase. Yet, “the 2017 figure is
more than double the number of first-time applications by Russians since 2012, when Vladimir
Putin was elected to a third presidential term,” public broadcaster Radio Free Europe first
reported in May 2018.
2
The broadcaster also published an infographic that shows that the
increase in asylum applications in 2017 even exceeded the previous high set in post-Soviet
Russia, in 1994, with 2,127 first-time asylum applications.
3
I have double-checked these data
with the USCIS Yearbooks of Immigration Statistics,
4
and confirmed this information to be
accurate.

1
USCIS. “Annual Flow Report. Refugees and Asylees: 2017.” March 2019.
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Refugees_Asylees_2017.pdf
2
Radio Free Europe. “Russian Asylum Applications In U.S. Hit 24-Year Record.” May 02, 2018.
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-asylum-applications-in-u-s-hit-24-year-record/29204843.html
3
Radio Free Europe. “Russian Asylum Applications In U.S. Hit 24-Year Record.” May 02, 2018.
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-asylum-applications-in-u-s-hit-24-year-record/29204843.html
4
USCIS. “Yearbooks of Immigration Statistics.” 1996-2017. https://www.dhs.gov/immigration- statistics/yearbook
2

SYSTEM REJECTED

I decided to depict this new political wave of immigration from Russia through the
stories of a professional political caricaturist, a lesbian and a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. I
tried to understand why these people, who belong to completely different social groups and at
first sight have nothing in common, have been persecuted in Russia in this historical time; the
overarching reason behind it; what political events in modern Russia have triggered a change
in the government’s behavior and subsequent crackdown on different types of people.
I discovered that the political and social atmosphere in Russia has started to change
quite strongly in late 2011 – early 2012 when the biggest protest movement since the fall of
the Soviet Union shook Moscow. Demonstrations were prompted by the rigged parliamentary
elections in December 2011
5
and reached its peak after Presidential elections and inauguration
of Vladimir Putin for his third presidential term in May 2012.
6
Protesters demanded reform
of the political system, holding early parliamentary and presidential elections. As a result,
hundreds of demonstrators were arrested, and several dozen people were sentenced to years in
prison.
Kseniya Kirillova, a Russian investigative journalist and disinformation expert, who is
on Putin’s hit list for exposing Russian propaganda, corruption and war crimes, was
interviewed for this documentary. She said, “Putin got scared of this growing protest potential
of the middle class, of the intelligentsia. So the unspoken, unofficial social contract that existed
in Russian society between Putin and the population — we provide a peaceful, stable life, and
you don’t get into politics — then, apparently, it began to be revised. What's called "tightening
the screws" and repression have started. Of course, there had been cases of murders of
journalists before; there had been cases of arrests before. But anyway, it had not been done
with ordinary people.”
7

5
Elen Barry. “Rally Defying Putin’s Party Draws Tens of Thousands,” The New York Times. December 10,
2011. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/world/europe/thousands-protest-in-moscow-russia-in-defiance-of-
putin.html?mtrref=www.google.com&assetType=REGIWALL
6
Miriam Elder. “Vladimir Putin's return to presidency preceded by violent protests in Moscow,” Guardian. May
6, 2012. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/06/vladimir-putin-presidency-violent-protests-moscow

7
Kseniya Kirillova interviewed by Shushanik Minasian, July 25, 2019.
3
SYSYEM REJECTED

However, the most radical changes took place after the annexation of Crimea and the
beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war. The level of militarism and nationalism in society
has increased dramatically. Also, these events have set Russia against the West, especially the
United States, even stronger than it was before. In her interview, Kseniya Kirillova noted that
it happened not only because Russia was widely condemned by the international community
and sanctioned, but also because of the vehement state-controlled propaganda. Specifically, it
would explain Russia’s actions in Ukraine as a preventive step to battle the impending threat
from NATO.
8
“What the Russian population is afraid of is actually the fear of death, that the
NATO bases will come and take over Russia; that Russia will be divided. That they will
simply destroy the local population as they need our resources. That the corrupt democrats
will come into power and not just rob Russia, but also destroy it on the orders of the overseas
rulers,” Kseniya Kirillova said.
Since 2012, with the souring of the social atmosphere in Russia, the persecution of the
opposition, as well as LGBT people and religious groups, has been a logical consequence.
There are different sides to that, and in the documentary, I have tried to give answers through
the expert interviews.
James von Geldern, an immigration lawyer and Professor of Russian and International
Studies at Macalester College, opined that to a certain point all these groups of people are the
same to the government and pro-government Russians in the sense that they are all infected
with what can be called “the Western disease.” “They are doing things that are alien to what
they consider to be native Russian culture and Russian values. So somebody who follows the
religion, like Jehovah’s Witnesses, an organization founded in New York City, is an agent of
Western culture. It appears that Russians associate LGBT people with Western fashions. ‘You
are only doing that because they do that in the West,’ many Russians might say. And as for
the politics, well, of course, it has also been infected by Western political habits. ‘You think
you can speak out against the government? Really? Where did you get that idea? And, of
course, they got that idea from the West.”
9

Therefore, it would seem unreasonable that all these social groups would be allegiant
Russian citizens. They have easily become appointed as enemies by the Russian propaganda,
especially in the society, where jingo-spirit, nationalist moods have been on the rise. Kseniya

8
Kseniya Kirillova interviewed by Shushanik Minasian, July 25, 2019
9
James Von Geldern interviewed by Shushanik Minasian, June 23, 2019
4
SYSYEM REJECTED

Kirillova also added that since the beginning of militaristic propaganda, when Russia
perceives itself as a “besieged fortress,” the tolerance to any kind of dissent has decreased
accordingly. “The government is afraid of any groups that due to different reasons are not get
affected by this propaganda. This includes political dissidents, religious minorities, for
example, Jehovah’s Witnesses. This organization has its own quite rigid doctrine, and this is
the very reason why it is not subjected to the Russian propaganda and the Russian militarist
doctrine. And it is this immunity that makes these people potentially disloyal in the eyes of
the Russian authorities.”
10

These rather sociopsychological explanations, presenting the broader picture of
motivations to persecute the minorities, go hand by hand with the facts that there were rulings
and laws passed against these people.
Not only were Jehovah’s Witnesses banned as extremist by Russia’s Supreme Court,
but they were also declared harmful to their children and maybe “deprived of parental rights
by a court”
11
Also, there was a law commonly known in the West as “anti-gay law,” which
was passed in 2013. Just the full name of it, "for the Purpose of Protecting Children from
Information Advocating for a Denial of Traditional Family Values,” clearly corresponds to
what Professor von Geldern said in his interview. Besides, there is a throng of legislation that
targets political dissidents. One of the latest, for instance, criminalizes anyone who shows
disrespect to government or authorities, including Vladimir Putin, on the internet. Repeat
offenders can be hit with a 15-day jail sentence.
12

In the documentary, I have presented this complex analysis interweaving it with the
personal stories of the characters. Only the access to these people’s lives has allowed me to
use video as a medium for such a non-visual topic. It worked well as the video has helped to
emphasize the strong emotional context and tension. Also, when it comes to such sensitive
stories, videos with real victims, showing their full identities, become especially valuable for
documenting cases of violation of human rights.
It was a serious challenge to find people who would be willing to tell their stories, in
the first place. But it was almost a tangible pain when I found myself in a situation when two

10
Kseniya Kirillova interviewed by Shushanik Minasian, July 25, 2019.
11
“Ruling of The Plenary Session of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. No 44.” November 14, 2017
12
Marc Bennets, “Russia passes law to jail people for 15 days for 'disrespecting' government,” The Guardian.
March 6, 2019 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/06/russian-parliament-outlaws-online-disrespect
5

SYSTEM REJECTED

of my initial main characters, who I had started working with, suddenly refused to continue
participating in the film because of their life circumstances. It happened halfway through the
2018 fall term, and I was faced with a choice: to finish the semester and my attempts to
become a documentary storyteller with a passable sizzle real, or to seek new characters.
I made a choice that cost me four months of days-and-nights search. I interviewed a
few dozens of people in person, through Skype, Viber, FaceTime, WhatsApp, Facebook,
Telegram and phone. Once I had to take a bus to San Diego to meet with the asylum seekers
at a church shelter, who gave me hope they were the ones I was looking for, but who
ultimately turned down the very idea of being filmed. Most of the time, the problem was lack
of trust, or that people were not ready to spend a few days on shootings because of hard life
circumstances, or to show up on camera without blurred faces and altered voices. When I
finally got the characters, there still was an issue: All of them, except for one, were not in Los
Angeles. This meant I had to raise some funds, fly to Minneapolis and San Francisco, drive
several times to Oakland and Fresno. I was alone on these trips; with all the heavy expensive
equipment we use for this course. I am not going to say I felt safe.
It was also hard to work with the family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The problems were
the family size and the age of the children. There were six members of the family: the parents
and the kids of thirteen, eleven, four and two years old. They were very kind to host me for
four days to film their story, but I could not imagine this would be the toughest production
event for me. Nothing went according to plans we discussed prior to my arrival. For all these
four days, I was not able to get all the family at least at the dinner table. It was almost
impossible to shoot a sequence with the beginning and the end, without missing cutaway
shots. I found myself losing control of the situation as I was just forceless against screaming,
running and crying children, who would demand all their parent’s attention and ruin my
interviews and actualities for countless times. Later, I blamed myself for an obvious thing:
How could I even plan to do something with a bunch of kids, especially when it came to such
a complex process as shooting sequences?
It has been a real gamble for me to create a documentary on immigration from Russia
and without being able to travel to Mexico, where a lot of people escape from Russia first and
then apply for asylum at the US-Mexico border. My documentary would have been much
more dynamic and informative if I had had this opportunity to travel abroad. To solve this
problem at least to a certain degree, I used archival footage from the 2012 protests in
6

SYSYEM REJECTED

Moscow. I had to obtain permission to use the video from the copyright holders, which was
another challenge.
The owners of the footage were the two Russian journalists from an unfamiliar local
TV station. It was my deliberate decision to find the video that would belong to private
people or small private companies as under no circumstances would I have been able to
obtain permission to use the shots from a state-controlled Russia media corporation. As these
two journalists did not have pictures on their TV station website, and their TV station
telephone did not work, I had to write messages on social media to seven people, who had the
same names as these two journalists. This time luck was on my side: I got the response and
consent to use the footage on the third day.
Despite all the failures, I am happy with my first documentary. I would even say I am
glad I made all these mistakes as they taught me some very fundamental basics of
documentary filmmaking and life, in general. I would highlight this one – it’s worth risking
only when the risk is calculated to the smallest detail.
As for the craft itself, it has turned out I am capable of “thinking in sequences,” which
means I can think nonlinearly and connect interviews to a logically structured footage. I also
surprisingly found myself comfortable working with a professional camera. I have learned
that visuals if shot and edited properly, can tell a story itself, especially when special
attention is paid to details.
Although this documentary is about Russian affairs, I have tried to make it interesting
to the American audience. I believe this content has the potential to arouse curiosity because
one of the underlying topics, which runs all through the film, is the topic of the confrontation
with the Western world, especially the United States. Not only it has to do with politics, but it
also conveys sociocultural aspects, which seems to be a rarely covered subject. And after all,
this story is about people who have been coming to America, and there is also not that much
attention to that.
7

SYSTEM REJECTED

Conclusion

System Rejected is a timely documentary as it tells about an ongoing issue of
immigration to the United Stated of asylum seekers from Russia. This is one of the reasons it
has the right to exist. I have set myself a difficult task to create a film on the people who in
most cases are not comfortable telling their stories. To me, it has brought even more value
and helped me keep going, despite all the countless failures I have met on my way.
I have tried to create a strong character-driven piece. At the same time, I have put a
lot of effort into giving background analytical information that would give a bigger
perspective of the issue and make the character’s stories more valid and understandable. I
would like to emphasize that this documentary is about minority groups that constitute a very
small part of the Russian population. This is also precious because I believe as journalists we
have to raise voices of those who are in the most vulnerable positions.
8
SYSYEM REJECTED

Documentary Script

System Rejected
Producer/Writer: Shushanik Minasian
Thesis (Fine Cut September 13, 2019)

PROLOGUE

Title
End of Prologue

EST of Walnut Creek
EST of Igor Ponochevny’s house

Music
Ambient sound of the city

EST of the entrance door of his apartment
CU of the apartment number

Radio news about the protests in Moscow
Music

VO Igor Ponochevny
CU of the apartment interiors. Pan of the
canvases on the wall. CU of the canvases
A sound of drawing with a pencil

My real name is Igor Ponochevny. Under it,
I am known as the author of canvases,
which I have been painting for many years.

VO Igor Ponochevny
MS from the back of Igor siting behind a
desk.
CU behind the shoulder, but not yet seeing
what Igor is drawing

But I am better known as Alesha Stupin. It
is a seven-year old boy, a mythical
character, who draws political caricatures.

VO Igor Ponochevny
CU of the caricature that Igor is drawing
CU of the fingers, with which Igor is
holding the pencil
Pan from his hand to the face
CU eyes
СU of the parts of the drawing

These drawings are in many ways my
political protest against the actions of the
Russian authorities not only domestically,
but also in the world. I started drawing them
in 2014, when the annexation of Crimea
took place, and when Russian troops
appeared in the east of Ukraine.
9
SYSYEM REJECTED

SOT Igor Ponochevny

WS Outside of the window view
MS of the tree
CU of the birds
MS of the people on the street
Finishing the drawing. CU of Igor writing
down his pseudonym at the corner of the
drawing.

What happened scared me because I thought
that there would be a full-scale war with a
neighboring state, that there would be
restrictions, sanctions, a reaction from the
international community. That is, I realized
that sooner or later all that would lead to
Russia’s defeat in rights; that we would
suffer from what we had done.

On the back side of the drawing he is giving
it a number.

Most of the people around me supported
this annexation – I tried to open their eyes
and tell them that,

SOT Igor Ponochevny

“Guys, with these actions we will create a
huge number of problems for ourselves. We
will be like those Germans, who rejoiced at
the annexation of the Sudetenland,
Czechoslovakia, Austria and so on. And I
tried to bring awareness about that. It was a
natural reaction of a normal person. I
thought that normal person should react like
that. And what I could do – I could write,
and I could draw. I started to write political
pamphlets and draw pictures.

VO Igor Ponochevny

MS of Igor taking his computer, opening
and switching it on.
CU of his Facebook page
Igor is posting his new drawing and getting
fist comments on it
Music

I have published all my works on social
media. My Facebook audience has grown
very fast. Alesha Stupin and I have become
quite famous. Of course, there has been a
lot of criticism. A lot of people reacted very
aggressive; many of them sent threats to kill
me. The amount of hatred went really wild.
So I even had to close the possibility of
commenting under my posts.

SOT Yana Sardaryan

To be a gay in Russia? It’s… Well, you
can’t be a gay in Russia. It’s so… These are
sick people – I am telling how people feel.
This is a society that needs to be isolated,
treated; many offer to burn. And… Well,
how is it to be a gay in Russia? Nohow.
SYSYEM REJECTED
10

EST Los Angeles
EST of the street with cars
Pan of the Yana’s house

Sound of the line ringing

CU of the Turkish coffee pot on the stove
CU of the apples on the counter
CU of the toothbrush in the bathroom
CU of the elephant statuette
MS of the framed pictures of Yana’s
nephews
CU of these pictures
CU of the Yana’s phone screen; her nephew
is on the video call

- Hello!!
- Hi Yana, hi!
- How are you?
- It’s ok. Here is Yanchik. Say hi.
-Hey hooligan! Why don’t they want to talk
to me?
-They must have forgotten you. Yanchik,
talk to Yana, your aunt!

VO Yana Sardaryan
CU of the Yana’s phone screen; her nephew
and her mother are on the video call

I grew up in the North Caucasus; this is the
Southern conservative region of Russia.

VO Yana Sardaryan
CU of Yana’s eyes
MS pan from Yana’s hands to the face.
CU of the screen with the video of the
second nephew.

In addition, I am from a family of traditional
Kurds, where a woman essentially is born to
be a good wife and mother.

Actuality. Conversation with the nephew
WS PAN of Los Angeles
MS EST

- Yana, we have morning, you have
night.
- No, you have evening, I have
morning.

VO Yana Sardaryan
CU of the tree limb
CU of Yana’s flip-flops
CU of the Turkish coffee pot: Yana is
entering the kitchen
Yana’s pictures with mom

Mostly because of this, I was scared to talk
about my orientation. But I remember when
I was 14, I asked mom. I said, “Mom, what is
gay?”

SOT Yana Sardaryan

She was like, “That’s a disease that only
Russians and Americans suffer from.” And
she said, “There is no such disease in our
nation.”
SYSYEM REJECTED
11

VO Yana Sardaryan
CU Yana is taking the coffee pot off the stove
MS Yana is pouring coffee into the cups
CU of pouring coffee
CU of the upper part of the cup
Music

It was a little shock for me, and maybethat’s
why I didn’t understand what washappening
to me for many years.

VO Valentin Vinogradov
MS EST of the highway in Minneapolis
MS of the Minnesota river
MS of the lighting pole
Driving on the highway bridge, showing the
city views
CU of Valentin’s face. He is driving
A pan from the skyscraper and the sky to the
street, while driving
CU of the hands on the steering wheel.
Valentin has arrived.
He is putting on the construction worker
uniform, taking it from the trunk. MS of him
going to the construction site.
Music

The biggest problem I see in humanity in
general, probably, is that one thing is to
know, another is to feel. And I would like
people to fell what refugees feel, what we
feel, leaving everything behind. Why we run
away. If we flee and take such a desperate
step for ourselves, for our children, then
really serious, very painful reasons are
behind it. And to understand that we are not
enemies to the world; that we are also
people trying to live. We are not bandits,
but they put us in the position of bandits.

VO Irina Vinogradova
WS of Irina crossing the street with the kids,
CU and MS of David and Liya driving on
the scooters, Irina is trundling the
perambulator with a two-year-old Saya

We have never thought of such a global
immigration. For us moving to another
country was very difficult. It’ very hard
morally because it’s a change of language,
traditions, culture. It’s just very hard; we
haven’t planned that.

VO Valentin Vinogradov
CU and MS of Valentin sawing the boards

We have arrived from the south of Russia.
We fled, fled because they wanted to take
our children away because our religious
affiliation and because of our personal
outlook on life in general.

VO Irina Vinogradova
CU of Saya looking how her siblings are
playing on a skateboard field

We have been Jehovah’s Witnesses for
twenty years,

SOT Irina Vinogradova

And Russia doesn’t want to accept what we
believe in, what we profess, what we value
most in our life.
12

SYSTEM REJECTED

VO Valentin Vinogradov
CU of the barricade tape

WS Pan of the construction site
CU of Igor attaching siding on the house
WS of the house and Valentin is in the crane
cradle.
MS of Valentin getting down in the crane

CU of Saya’s legs. CU Reveal shot of her
walking
Music

The biggest problem began when our
religious organization was officially banned
by the Supreme Court and declared
extremist. It was in April 2017. And the
appearance at the time of the development
of the law that would allow to easily take
children away form a family, if this family
belongs to a banned religious organization.
Moreover, this law states that custody, a
juvenile justice authority, has the right to
take away a child from a family in mere
suspicion that the family belongs to a
prohibited organization.

SOT Valentin Vinogradov

They don’t need a trial. They don’t need an
order. They don’t need anything. Just to
come to a family and take away a child. In
Russia, we were left with no choice. We just
had to leave.

VO James von Geldern
WS of the mountain and sky views from the
airplane window

The huge influx of Russian immigrants has
been very recent, and it’s very surprising. If
I had wanted to flee Russia, I would have
done it long ago, but people stayed, and
now

SOT James von Geldern

for the last two years, things have gotten so
bad, that we have different groups of people
being persecuted.

WS of the mountain and sky views from the
airplane window.
VO Kseniya Kirillova
Archival footage of the 2012 Moscow
protests.

The situation in Russia has Russia has
indeed changed in recent years. I would
even say it has changed dramatically. It has
started probably with the protest movement
of the turn of 2011-2012, when Putin got
scared of this growing protest potential of
the middle class, intelligentsia.

SOT Kseniya Kirillova

And probably the unspoken social contract
that existed in the Russian society between
Putin and the population, it was unofficial,
“we provide a peaceful, stable life, and you
don’t get into politics,”
13

SYSYEM REJECTED

VO Kseniya Kirillova
Archival footage of the 2012 Moscow
protests.
then apparently it has begun to be revised.
What's called "tightening the screws" and
repression have started. In fact, [the protest]
on May 6, 2012, is probably the first case of
what can be called not mass but repression,
because of course before that, there had
been cases of murders of journalists; before
that, there had cases of arrests. But anyway,
it hadn’t been done in relation to ordinary
people.

VO James von Geldern
Archival footage of the 2012 Moscow
protests.

What the Putin regime learned in 2012, as it
soon came into power, was don't let sparks
lye undisturbed. Rather than waiting for
dissent to foment into demonstrations of a
hundred and fifty thousand people on the
streets,

SOT James von Geldern

the moment you see something beginning,
put them into prison, send them into exile.

VO Kseniya Kirillova
Archival footage of the 2012 Moscow
protests.

It was the first, let’s say, alarming bell. The
level of hatred in society has certainly
started to grow.

Actuality from the archival footage. A clash
between a woman and the police

-Who are you serving? Who are you
serving? To the bald freak! How old are
you? How?
-Nineteen!
-My son…
-Did your son serve?!
-Look, look how people are being beaten
up!
-We have an order!
-What order, what order?!

VO Kseniya Kirillova
Archival footage of the 2012 Moscow
protests.

The hatred surged also due to the pro-
Kremlin organizations. Pro-Kremlin
organizations had existed before that too,
but this kind of organizations have started to
radicalize very strongly after 2012.
14

SYSTEM REJECTED

SOT Kseniya Kirillova

The “National Liberation Movement”
appeared, essentially a neo-Nazi
organization.

Aerial footage of California
Music

But the most radical changes, of course,
have taken place after the annexation of
Crimea and the beginning of the Russian-
Ukrainian war.

Footage of California lake views
EST San Francisco
EST Igor Ponochevny’s house
MS of potted plants in the house
CU Igor is tying his shoelaces
MS Igor is leaving his house
VO Igor Ponochevny
Igor is going to the parking to his car
Music

Right after the annexation of Crimea, I quit
my job at a bank. I was a lawyer for twelve
years. First of all, it was obvious to me that
I paid taxed, and the government bought
bullets with these taxes, and with these
bullets it killed our neighbors, and I tried
escape into such “internal migration.”
Second of all, I realized that my political
position wouldn’t let me work; they
wouldn’t work with me. You have to
understand that jingo-spirit moods have
reigned in society. As it is often called
“Crimean consensus.”

SOT Igor Ponochevny

Which means that the society has rallied in
the face of such a mystical threat; that the
West has wanted to dismember Russia,
invade Russia, but Russia got ahead and
seized Crimea. It has been presented by the
media as a kind of preventive step to
counter the threat form NATO, from
America.

VO Igor Ponochevny
CU of the navigator and time on in the car,
while driving
WS views from the car

And it has been really had to be in that
society of hatred. I simply couldn’t
associate with a lot of people around me
because any other point of view different
from the official one

SOT Igor Ponochevny

has been persecuted, and you have been an
enemy for them, exactly the same as
America or NATO.
15

SYSYEM REJECTED

VO Igor Ponochevny
WS and MS of the views driving through
the Golden Gate Bridge
WS of the Golden Gate Bridge from the hill

I have realized that my cooperation with the
Russian society has been becoming very
limited.

VO Kseniya Kirillova
WS of the ship sailing in San Francisco

Putin plays very skillfully on fear, on the
main fear of Russians, that there would be
much worse after him. This fear if often
stronger that the fear of repression. And
many still believe in Russia that Putin
protects them from an external threat, from
collapse, form chaos, from war. And
therefore, a person compares his life not
with a normal one, like it is in other
countries, but a person compares his life
with a constant disaster that comes from
television.

SOT Kseniya Kirillova

This is also a Russian national instinct – the
fear to lose Russia.

CU The ocean view through the chain

This chaos, this devastation – that’s the
collapse of the country.

MS ocean views
MS Igor is drawing on the canvas
CU of the canvas
CU of the upper part of the Golden Gate
Bridge
Pan form the ocean to Igor drawing
CU of Igor’s legs
CU of Igor’s hand with the brush
WS of the ocean view
CU of the paints palette
VO Igor Ponochevny

It is very difficult to speak out against the
government, against the part of society that
defends the government. You have to
constantly be in a state of expecting a blow.
You constantly expect a provocation against
you, something to happen. The government
has all your coordinates, and all the pro-
government activists have your coordinates.
Everyone knows where you live; everyone
knows your daily routine. For example, they
set fire on my parent's apartment. I lived in
that apartment -- they set fire to the door of
the apartment. A part of the corridor was
burned out. Everyone woke up from the fact
that they began to choke with the smoke,
and when my father rushed to the door, tried
to open it, he burned his hands because the
door handle was heated. Not that the
apartment would have been burned, but
rather we would have suffocated from the
smoke. The police didn't find anybody,
16

SYSTEM REJECTED

didn't look for anybody. Nobody did
anything.

VO Kseniya Kirillova
MS of the birds in the sky

As militarism has been growing and this
state of "besieged fortress" has been
growing,

SOT Kseniya Kirillova

yes, we can say that ultimately "a party of
war" has come to power in Russia, for
which there are no halftones, for which any
dissent is perceived as
treason. Consequently, it affects not only
dissidents –

VO Kseniya Kirillova
WS of the skies speeded up
Music

those who speak out against the actions of
authorities – but it also affects religious,
sexual minorities, all those who by virtue of
their orientation, religious views, etc. are
not influenced by militaristic propaganda.

WS of the plane flying in the dark skies
SOT James von Geldern

beginning in 2014 with the seizure of
Crimea with the war in eastern Ukraine,
Russia has been gradually squeezed by
Western sanctions and by its own sense of
hopelessness. And Russians have realized
that they have really drugged themselves
into a hole; that they have created a situation
that is going to take years and years to climb
at off, and they are angry. And when they
are angry, they turn against people who are
weak, and people who are weak in Russia
are homosexuals,

SOT James von Geldern

Lesbians, religious dissidents, political
dissidents and they all have gotten the
message that they need to leave now.

WS Time lapse of the sunrise in Los
Angeles
CU of the fallen leaf on the ground
WS pan of Yana’s house
VO Yana Sardaryan
MSs, CUs, Pans of Yana putting on her
colored lenses

People are mean; People are mean there.
They think if they don't like something then
this is wrong. I just want they to treat us, if
not a hundred percent like other people, but
at least not to be like a red rag for a bull.
17

SYSYEM REJECTED

SOT Yana Sardaryan

In fact, it's like that now.

Pan of Yana getting out of the bathroom
CU of her putting on some jewelries
VO Yana Sardaryan

If it is fine when girlfriends hold hands and
just walk in Europe, then in Russia,
someone would catch up and spit on you;
someone would tell you are a freak;
someone would come up, as it happened to
me last time,

SOT Yana Sardaryan

and hit you on the head.

VO Yana Sardaryan
CU pictures of Yana with the girlfriend
MS of Yana dressing up and leaving the
house

My girlfriend and I went to a bar, a gay bar;
we held hands. Three men approached to
us. At first, they began to call names; then,
a fight broke out. They hit my girlfriend,
then they started beating us up. I was on the
ground; they kicked me in the knee, in the
stomach; it didn't matter where.

SOT Yana Sardaryan

It seems to me they would have continued
beating me up until someone interfered
because these people's goal is not just to
beat, but to cleanse, to cleanse the country
from such freaks like me.
VO Yana Sardaryan
EST of Los Angeles
WS of Yana waiting for the green light to
cross the street.
She is crossing the street.
CU of the bus station sign
Yana is getting into the bus

I have never had any big incidents. They all
were insignificant. But then this beating, the
threats to kill: I was scared. I really was
scared; that's why I reached out to the police
for help. But in Russia, the police, all the
system

SOT Yana Sardaryan

treats gays the same way. They wouldn't
protect us. They would do everything to get
rid of us. It was my second and
probably biggest mistake to ask for help.
18

SYSTEM REJECTED

VO Yana Sardaryan
CU of the sticker on the bus door
MS of Yana’s reflection in the mirror
MS views of the city from the bus
CU Yana is driving in the bus

As a result, they set conditions for me: to
sign a document -- it was a fabricated case
against me-- because of which I would go to
prison, or to leave the country in a
week. The police came after me to my
house and took me to the police
department. First, they followed me to a
basement, where there were cells. I don't
actually remember how long I had spent

SOT Yana Sardaryan

there. Then they led me upstairs to the
prosecutor. And the prosecutor presented
me that document. It was very tough
because initially I refused to sign this paper
- it was placed a little further - because of
that I was hit by one of the people who
stood behind -- there were two of them.
- And then...
- The policeman?
- Yes, yes.
The policeman hit me; it was in very tough
and violent manner, and the prosecutor, who
was sitting in front of me, was talking
loudly... I was so scared that I had the only
thoughts to get out, to get out somewhere, to
burrow somewhere, and that was it. I
actually signed this paper then because I
realized that I had a few visas, and I could
get away to any country to survive
somehow. That's why, yes, I signed the
document and left. I just packed my case, or
rather a backpack. And that was it.

VO Kseniya Kirillova
California aerial views from the plane
window

What is important for Russia is the reason to
oppose itself to Europe. Among other
things, the Russian propaganda very clearly
appoints as enemies those whom most
people tend to consider to be enemies. In
this case, most people don't understand
LGBT people; they have prejudices, fears in
relation to these people. And that is what
propaganda plays on. Most likely they are
not afraid of LGBT as such; They simply
made a convenient target out of them, the
image of the enemy that will be perceived
by society.
19

SYSYEM REJECTED

VO James von Geldern
California aerial views

I think to the government and pro-
government Russians these groups of people
are the same on the sense that they are all
infected with what can be called “the
Western disease.” “They are doing things
that are alien to what they consider to be
native Russian culture and Russian values.
So somebody who follows the religion, like
Jehovah’s Witnesses, that was founded in
New York City is an agent of Western
culture. I think Russians associate LGBT
people with Western fashions. ‘You are
only doing that because they do that in the
West,’ many Russians might say.

SOT James von Geldern

And as for the politics, well, of course, it
has also been infected by Western political
habits. ‘You think you can speak out against
the government? Really? Where did you get
that idea? And, of course, they got that idea
from the West.

VO Valentin Vinogradov
WS of Vinogradov’s house
CU of the door lock
MS of Valentin getting out from his car
Hand-held of Valentin meeting the babies

Our family suffered from the system even
before the prohibition [the law] because
with our religious and personal beliefs, we
refuse to support military organizations,
world-views. And naturally at school we
said that we were against of our children
taking part in military celebrations, dressing
up in military uniform and so on. But the
teachers were categorically against this.

VO David Vinogradov
WS of David and Liya watching TV
CU of David watching TV
VU of Liya playing games on her phone

Teachers were constantly yelling at us; we
went back home with tears -- I, Liya. It was
hard for us to study.

SOT DAVID VINOGRADOV

The scores usually were between C and
B. And they didn't help me at all to do better
to make my scores higher.
20

SYSTEM REJECTED

SOT Liya Vinogradova

Sometimes I was given Fs just because I
was not like everyone. That's how terrible
my teacher was.

VO Liya Vinogradova
MS and CU of children watching TV

Sometimes she even would make me stay
after classes, and she tried to talk to
me. And she started to tear my notebooks
off

SOT Liya Vinogradova

to make me renounce my faith. She
threatened to take me to the principal, to the
head teacher, etc.

CU of Irina, cutting the fish
VO Irina Vinogradova

We had a parent meeting for the whole
school. My husband and I were there.

SOT Irina Vinogradova

And the head teacher said straight off that
all parents who don't agree there are hymns
sung at school;

MS of Irina cooking

there are holidays, pioneer's ties, pioneer's
brigades, - who disagrees with all that, who
doesn't like that and has complaints,

SOT Irina Vinogradova

go to Trump and Merkel. I am telling
straight how it was. When we heard that, we
were just terrified.
21

SYSYEM REJECTED

SOT Kseniya Kirillova

Since the beginning of militaristic
propaganda, when Russia perceives itself as
a "besieged fortress," the tolerance to any
kind of dissent has decreased accordingly.
And it comes not just to dissent, but that the
government is afraid of any groups that due
to different reasons are not get affected by
this propaganda. This includes religious
minorities, for example, Jehovah's
Witnesses. This organization has its own
quite rigid doctrine, but this is the very
reason why it is not subjected to the Russian
propaganda and the Russian militarist
doctrine. And it is this immunity that makes
this people potentially disloyal in the eyes
of the Russian authorities.

VO Valentin Vinogradov
WS of two-year-old Saury standing a chair
and playing with her bottle of milk
CU of Saury’s face
Reveal shot of Saury on the chair

A situation that deeply shocked us and
decisively convinced us that we had to flee
this country, happened when Saury was
born. She was born prematurely; she was
initially examined and taken care of in a
hospital, and when the doctor decided that
Saury could go home, he said that we had a
choice to move to a children's ward, or to go
home.

SOT Valentin Vinogradov

Of course, Irina chose to go home as there is
no place like home. We kept our child at
home.

VO Irina Vinogradova

WS of David and Liya looking at the street
through binoculars
MS of Saya opening the door and
approaching to her siblings

We went to a policlinic. Every day we had
examinations because the child was very
small. That is, everything was completely
legal. And all of a sudden, the custody
showed up and informed us that there was a
snitching on us

SOT Irina Vinogradova

that we wanted to kill the child. Just like
that, straight off. It was just the way I say
it.
22

SYSTEM REJECTED

VO Irina Vinogradova

CU of Saury’s face looking out the window
and leaving
Pan of David and Venya getting out onto
the porch

They also said I didn't have the right to
decide where my babe would be
placed; how my kids would live; that they
can take them easily at any time; that the
kids belong only to the government. I
couldn't resist because,

SOT Irina Vinogradova

let me say, there were three of them-- a
policeman and two people from custody.
They also searched the house; opened
something: some closets, stuff.

MS David and Venya on the porch looking
through the binoculars
Reveal MS od Liya drawing in her room
CU of the drawing
CU of Liyas’ face and pan to her hands

They obviously were looking for something.
We only had Bibles there. Maybe they were
looking for confirmation that we are
Jehovah Witnesses for sure. We connect all
that, because they had already tried to come,
but I sent them off. But that time, they came
with the police and threatened me. They
made me sign off some documents because
they said if didn't sign them

SOT Irina Vinogradova

then they would take away the babies first,
and then they would come back for older
children. Of course, I was scared; I was
shocked.

Actuality. Reveal shot of Venya opening the
door to let Saya out onto the porch

Saya is there!

VO Valentin Vinogradov
MS and CU of the children playing on the
porch

The only reason why they didn't take the
children was because Ira fulfilled all their
requirements. That is, they searched the
house without her knowing -- they got what
they wanted, and they beat out of her, I call
it this way, signing of all the documents
about complete access and complete right to
the children. In fact, they had already taken
out children away "on paper."

SOT Valentin Vinogradov
Music

They just physically stayed with us.
23
SYSYEM REJECTED

VO Irina Vinogradova
Medium Reveal Shot of the children’s
wardrobe
CU of the children’s clothes
CU of the framed picture with the reflected
window on it
MS View from the children’s room window
MS of the room
WS and CU of children’s picture on the
wall
CU of the toys

I was afraid of every rustle, of door creaks
on the street...We already hid the children,
so that they went to school, and in the
evenings we took them away. On weekends,
we weren't home at all. We also had certain
instruction what to do in case they would
come: We would just grab the babies and
run through the garden. We didn't have a
gate

SOT Irina Vinogradova

at the back of our garden, and we could
escape though the neighbor's plot.

SOT Valentin Vinogradov

I am convinced this persecution was
because of our religion because I can't find
other reasons.

VO Valentin Vinogradov
CU of the wedding picture
Reveal shot of the pictures from vacations
CU of the school craft work
WS on Liya, finishing drawing, from the
back
CU of her taping the drawing on the wall

We had a model family. We worked, we
took care of the children. The children were
dressed, fed, well-behaved, friendly with
their classmates and neighbors. I just don't
see other reasons for what else we could be
persecuted and threatened with taking away
our children.

VO James von Geldern
MS of Liya taping the drawing on the wall
CU of the house’s window from the outside
CUs of children’s toys in the backyard
WS Pan from the house to the street

One change that is taking place with the
recent souring of the social atmosphere is
that it’s not just the Russian government is
persecuting people, but common citizens are
taking part the persecution with a lot of
LGBT people and with religious dissidents,
particularly Jehovah’s Witnesses. In several
cases, I have seen Jehovah’s Witnesses who
were jailed because their neighbors had
reported them to the police for having
illegal literature.
24
SYSYEM REJECTED

SOT James von Geldern

And for someone who has spent time in the
Soviet Union and studied the Stalin’s period
in the Soviet Union, this is very familiar -
this is the main resource that the Soviet
political system used to persecute people.
But it's very unfamiliar to anyone who spent
time in Russia between 1991 and let’s say
2010. And this is a positive turn in society.

Transition to the Epilogue
Epilogue
End

25
SYSYEM REJECTED

Bibliography

USCIS. 2019 Annual Flow Report. Refugees And Asylees: 2017. March 04.
https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/Refugees_Asylees_2017.pdf
Schreck, Karl. 2018. Russian Asylum Applications In U.S. Hit 24-Year Record. May 02.

https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-asylum-applications-in-u-s-hit-24-year-record/29204843.html
USCIS. 2018. Yearbooks of Immigration Statistics 1996-2017. September 13.
https://www.dhs.gov/immigration-statistics/yearbook
The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation. 2017. Ruling of The Plenary Session of the
Supreme Court of the
Russian Federation. No 44. November 14.
Barry, Elen. 2011.“Rally Defying Putin’s Party Draws Tens of Thousands,” The New York
Times. December 10. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/11/world/europe/thousands-protest-
in-moscow-russia-in-defiance-of-
putin.html?mtrref=www.google.com&assetType=REGIWALL
Elder, Miriam. 2012. “Vladimir Putin's return to presidency preceded by violent protests in
Moscow,” Guardian. May 6. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/06/vladimir-
putin-presidency-violent-protests-moscow
SYSYEM REJECTED
26

Bennets, Mark. 2019. “Russia passes law to jail people for 15 days for 'disrespecting'
government,” The Guardian. March 6 2019
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/mar/06/russian-parliament-outlaws-online-
disrespect
Von Geldern, James, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Immigration lawyer and
Professor of Russian and International Studies at McAlester College. June 23.
Kirillova, Kseniya, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Russian investigative journalist
and expert on disinformation. July 25.
Ponochevny, Igor, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Russian political asylum seeker in
the United States. August 08.
Sardaryan, Yana, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Russian political asylum seeker in
the United States. March 24.
Vinogradov Valentin, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Russian political asylum
seeker in the United States. June 22.
Vinogradova, Irina, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Russian political asylum seeker in
the United States. June 22.
Vinogradov David, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Russian political asylum seeker in
the United States. June 22.
Vinogradova Liya, interview by Shushanik Minasian. 2019. Russian political asylum seeker in
the United States. June 22.

Abstract (if available)

Abstract System Rejected is a documentary about Russian political asylum seekers in the United States. This film follows the stories of three characters who were oppressed by the current Russian regime because of political opinion, religious views and sexual orientation. According to the USCIS Annual Flow Report. Refugees And Asylees: 2017, there was a sharp surge in asylum cases from Russia in 2017 compared to a year before: 2649 cases in 2017 versus 1909 cases in 2016. The documentary depicts this new political wave of immigration through the stories of a professional political caricaturist, a lesbian and a family of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The author tried to understand why these people, who belong to different social groups, have been persecuted in Russia in this historical time

Linked assets

University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses

Conceptually similar

PDF

Home in the heart: Hungarian scouts in Los Angeles

PDF

Letting the light back in: Upper Ojai after the Thomas Fire

PDF

The mushroom hunters

PDF

Connected: living mindfully in the digital age

PDF

Escaping Russia: a blind man's American dream

PDF

Cages to classrooms: an examination of the school to prison pipeline

PDF

The memory of music: living with dementia through music

PDF

The business of spa

PDF

Crossfade: a documentary on DJs of color in Los Angeles

PDF

Doe v. Knights

PDF

Too gay for Russia

PDF

Lori Dinkin: reflections over 100 years

PDF

Lucy's choice

PDF

My gold lining: a lifestyle and medical documentary on patients with hidradenitis suppurativa

PDF

Waking up to womanhood

PDF

The road to Tokyo 2021: uncovering the Olympics postponement in a COVID-19 world

PDF

Radio revolution

PDF

Boyle Heights, a community

PDF

Beautiful souls: an augmented reality enabled interactive experience

PDF

Fútbol en America

Asset Metadata

Creator Minasian, Shushanik (author)

Core Title System rejected

School Annenberg School for Communication

Degree Master of Arts

Degree Program Specialized Journalism

Publication Date 12/06/2019

Defense Date 12/06/2019

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag documentary,human rights,OAI-PMH Harvest,Persecution,political asylum

Language English

Contributor Electronically uploaded by the author (provenance)

Advisor Birman, Dan (committee chair)

Creator Email shushangevorg@gmail.com,sminasia@usc.edu

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c89-248402

Unique identifier UC11673562

Identifier etd-MinasianSh-8020.pdf (filename),usctheses-c89-248402 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier etd-MinasianSh-8020.pdf

Dmrecord 248402

Document Type Thesis

Rights Minasian, Shushanik

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA