At least, that's what Moskvichka magazine announced on Telegram. Officially, it was a private event reserved for an elite group, kept secret by the magazine until the last day, which enabled Gaspar Noé to meet various Russian personalities linked to the world of culture, entertainment and communication.
Among some of the guests we were able to identify: costume designer Svetlana Bondartchuk, painter Pavel Pepperstein, journalist Maria Morgun, producer Sergey Ilyevskiy (executive producer of Jeanne du Barry, he heads the Arthouse distribution company - which distributed Vortex - and its more mainstream branch, Artmainstream), actor Alexander Gortchilin (who worked several times with Serebrennikov, including Leto and Tchaikovsky's Wife), director Aleksey German Jr. (Berlin award-winning Dovlatov)
The purpose of the invitation? To talk about arts and "the need to preserve family ties", by showing his father's work, which could then be exhibited in Moscow. The evening was held at Moscow's Aïna restaurant, and was organized jointly by Arthouse, the K2 Agency and Moskvichka magazine. And while Gaspar Noé will be presenting Vortex at the Moscow International Film Week, it remains to be seen whether the festival or the magazine invited him first.
What do the agency and the magazine share in common? A woman by the name of Kristina Potupchik.
Founder of the agency, she is also the head of Rare Books Publishing, which publishes the magazine - and it was her idea to launch it, with Kremlin's approval - to restore Russia's image in the wake of Western sanctions.
It has to be said that her career path has only served to demonstrate her approval of Putin's regime. Having been a spokeswoman for the Nashi (which orchestrated cybercrime attacks to silence opponents), she has never stopped using her influence. Moreover, while she was one of the personalities sanctioned by Ukraine for her propaganda profile (sic), the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF) reports that she received money directly from the state and corrupted influencers and personalities to promote a pro-Kremlin narrative.
So it's hardly surprising to see guest profiles (albeit few in number) such as Alexander Shenkman, president of AmediaTV and vice-president of the Euro-Asian Jewish Congress, an organization that has never condemned the escalation of violence since the Hamas attacks and perpetuated by Netanyahu, despite being widely criticized by the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. Shenkman regularly appears alongside statesmen such as State Duma Committee member Vyacheslav Nikonov and Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Media Alexander Volin.
Of course, many of the guests spoke out, asserting that culture is always stronger than politics - and this was the line taken on Instagram by the magazine's editor-in-chief, Darina Alexeeva.
But is it possible to be "apolitical" in such a context? According to RTVI (Russian news media), Gaspar Noé would be the second world-famous personality to come since the military operations of 2022, after Kanye West very recently. And it's hard to see how his visit to Red Square, and to a recently built film studio, doesn't contribute to the Kremlin's soft power.
Admittedly, Gaspar Noé has never paid much attention to political issues. But his rare interventions on the subject, usually anti-racist (the petitions against the anti-immigration "Pasqua-Debré" laws in 1997, his categorical refusal to participate in the racist turn taken by a spot commissioned from him by the French Government in 2004, the "Appel de Calais" in 2015 to condemn the fate reserved for refugees, or last month, the fact that he considered participating in an anti far-right film initiated by Marjane Satrapi) and the inclusivity of the casts of his films (most notably Climax) appear to be in contradiction with the policy pursued by Vladimir Putin, whose Ministry of Culture had refused the distributor the theatrical release of Love because of its "numerous pornographic scenes".
While it's not our place to say how Gaspar Noé should act or where he should circulate, we do wish to make our views known: we cannot, in the name of art, endorse the giving of communications weapons to political enemies. Because in this case, it's not just a question of participating in a simple film festival, but of events dedicated entirely to his name used for propaganda purpose: Moskvichka has even offered to feature him on the front cover of its next issue.
Vincent Maraval, Gaspar Noé's friend and producer, who is always very critical of Emmanuel Macron, whom he compares to "dictator Vladimir Putin", has not commented on the subject... But if Gaspar Noé or even his producers wish to comment, they know where to reach me.
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