Plot synopsis

On August 25, 1968, Soviet dissident Victor Fainberg joined seven other USSR citizens in the Red Square Demonstration to protest the Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia. They were known as the "Magnificent Eight." Fainberg paid for his “five minutes of freedom” on the Red Square with 5 1/2 years of confinement and torture in a Soviet "mental hospital". From the crushing of the Prague Spring (1968) to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine (2022), Fainberg’s insider testimony on the price and triumph of resistance to evil takes us on a breathtaking journey into the madness and hopes of contemporary Russia.

commentaries

The Pushkin Club presents: Madly in Dissent., pushkinhouse.org, 2025

Selected in the following festivals or events :

- Du Goulag à la dissidence. Colloque international à l'Institut d'Etudes Slaves, Paris (France), 2026

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