The Term

What does it mean to be a Russian opposition leader? In May 2012, Vladimir Putin starts his third term as president. A growing number of citizens calls for him to go and there is a feeling that a political shift is close. Opposition leaders steadfastly struggle against injustice.

Convinced that history is being written, three filmmakers decide to record the sociopolitical landscape of the moment. They place brief reportages online every day as an alternative source of information. One major condition is that the viewer is able to draw his own conclusions. The Term is both a result and the conclusion of this much-debated project, for which there is no tolerance in today’s Russia.

The film focuses on the opposition leaders, who are closely followed. An infectious call for freedom and change flies off the screen. Main characters include the women of Pussy Riot, the potential presidential candidate Alexei Navalny, and liberal activist Ilya Yashin and his wealthy girlfriend and TV personality Ksenia Sobchak, reputed to be Putin’s godchild. Protesting against the Kremlin becomes their principal reason for living. Told in a neutral tone, their stories are interspersed with heavily-biased footage from Russian state TV.