NO PLACE FOR FOOLS

Sergey Astakhov is famous. He maintains a videoblog on the internet where he shares his thoughts and feelings (or sometimes just his momentary boredom) with complete strangers. Classified as mentally disabled, the gay man spends his days in his Moscow apartment, devoting himself primarily to food, his Orthodox faith and an intense patriotism that borders on the schizophrenic. In rhythmic montages consisting exclusively of existing video material from the internet, Russian performance and video artist Oleg Mavromatti creates a new cinematic form, while at the same time giving Sergey a voice – for, although the figure of the holy fool is firmly anchored in Russian culture, there seems to be no place for a guy like Sergey in Russian society today.