Father Frost Against – festival (formerly Father Frost Against Putin) is a cultural and political festival designed to stimulate critical thought and reflection, and to work out new activist strategies, with a focus on developments in Russia and the post-Soviet space.

The festival has been organised since 2014, and the 7th edition will take place in various locations in Helsinki, Finland, on 3 - 5 January 2020 and is organized by local activists with active support and participation from individuals and groups from Russia and the post-Soviet space.

Main Aims of the Festival

1. redefine social and political fields, through information exchange with successful projects and strategic planning
2. Creating a space for networking and connecting with like-minded people
3. involving new participants and guests in the festival program
4. developing a new language to indicate current and relevant issues.

Topics covered throughout the festival:

• New ontologies, new materialism;
• Gender/queer/feminist agenda;
• Necropolitics;
• Decolonialism;
• Social protests in Russia;
• Media-activism
• Participatory projects.

Why

The festival takes place in Finland, because such an event would face immediate repression in Russia. However, due to the distance and travel costs Russian activists are facing further constraints in being able to participate. This is why our group has decided to launch a crowdfunding campaign to cover these costs.

By helping us you support creating an inclusive space for critical thought and direct action projects, and enable the participation of many individuals and collective representatives who would not be able to attend otherwise.

Funding Goal

Our goal is to raise 1100 euros to cover travel expenses for speakers coming to the festival from Russia.

Our current list of speakers- include("philosopher") and cyberfeminist Alla Mitrofanova, feminist DJ Lölja Nordic who will talk about environmental insurrection in the village of Shies in Northern Russia, Max Evstropov from performance group «Party of the Dead», Pavel Nikulin who will talk about the situation of small or independent media initiatives and also ourselves, Studio 4.413.

For the full list of speakers and presentation descriptions, please visit our website:

https://en.dedmorozprotiv.com/

If we manage to raise more than 1600 euros, we will be able to expand the list of speakers, lecturers, artists and activists from Russia. For example, the program would- include("performers") who use their bodies as a political instrument as well as a safe inclusive performative space for LGBTQ+ persons.

If even further funding is available, we would also like to create laboratories of feminist artists looking into choreography of power and affectation through performative structures of a collective body.

Any further money we fundraise will be spent to broaden the festival, by extending the programme and creating more empowering and engaging spaces for participants.

Please help us to make this happen!