‘Meduza’ presents: ‘Cold Summer of 2019,’ a film by Katerina Gordeyeva How Russia’s capital fought for free elections and ended up with ‘The Moscow Case’

Last summer, Moscow saw dozens of mass protests in response to independent candidates being banned from running in the City Duma elections — drawing an unprecedented amount of attention to the 2019 municipal election campaign. Law enforcement aggressively dispersed the rallies, arresting 1,373 people on July 27, 2019, alone. The protests ended with the launch of “The Moscow Case” for alleged criminal rioting. The case included 32 suspects; 22 were convicted and 10 are still serving time in prison colonies. Some of the most active participants in the protests became rising stars on the political scene, such as Alexei Minyaylo from candidate Lyubov Sobol’s campaign team, and municipal deputy Ilya Azar. Members of the systemic opposition ended up winning nearly half the seats in the Moscow City Duma. Journalist Katerina Gordeyeva’s interviews with the most important figures of last summer’s events turned into a documentary filmed titled “Cold Summer of 2019.” Work on the documentary was completed in September of last year, but it has yet to be released to viewers. To mark the anniversary of the July 27 protests, Meduza premieres Gordeyeva’s new film.