The Festival of Life: ‘Chicago 1968’ Through the Lens of Post-Truth

In the film HyperNormalisation by British documentary maker Adam Curtis, there is a section on Vladimir Putin’s purported puppet master, Vladislav Surkov who has also become known as ‘Putin’s Rasputin’. His central role in keeping Putin in power in Russia is documented by Curtis through collages of archival BBC footage and newsreels, and some scenes shot for the film. It is accompanied by Curtis’ bold and highly distinctive commentary. Surkov’s background in avant-gardetheatre is highlighted and portrayed as reaching right into the heart Russian politics by turning politics into a strange theatre where nobody knows what is true and what is fake any longer. Reality can be manipulated and shaped into anything you want it to be.