Russia's remote Altai region is not just about a tentative gas pipeline to neighboring China. People here are now heading to the mountains in thick snow to cash in on other riches that literally grow on trees: pine nuts. Russia is the world's largest supplier of pine nuts. For locals, it's a rare chance to make money, but the work is hard, cold, and dangerous.
Current Time TV's Form #087 mini-series on the lives of transgender Russians has been nominated for Best Representation on Screen at the 2019 Content Innovation Awards on October 13. In this interview, series creator Yekaterina Ponomaryova, a Russian documentary filmmaker, explains how she came up with the idea for the series and why, despite pervasive negative stereotypes, tolerance toward transgenders runs strongest in Russia's provinces.
Ukraine’s first modeling agency for the disabled hopes to make wheelchairs as acceptable as stilettos on local catwalks. In a country that, until recently, officially termed the disabled "invalids," that could prove a challenge. But 27 aspiring models in the city of Kharkiv are ready to take that challenge on.
Albert Razin, a scholar and activist in the Russian region of Udmurtia, set himself on fire in front of the local parliament building in September and died shortly afterwards. His death was a final act of protest in defense of the Udmurt language, which he believed was threatened by recent legislation from Moscow.
Leonid was born in a small town in Russia's Far East, where his mother beat him for being gay. When he finished school, he left home and met Aleksandr, with whom he now campaigns for LGBT rights.
Women’s soccer has enjoyed phenomenal growth in recent years and, now, women in the Kyrgyz village of Kok-Tash, just north of the Uzbek border, are getting the chance to go after some goals, too. Kyrgyzstan’s Women’s Football Federation encourages young girls to play soccer, but, in rural areas, where women’s roles often center around the home, adult female soccer players are far from the norm -- at least, for now.
In Soviet times, Aleksandra Selyaninova worked for 16 years within the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ regional offices. When she retired in 1989, she made another change as well: She changed her sex, becoming a woman. "I took off my uniform and put on a dress," she says with a laugh. (Filmmaker: Yekaterina Ponomaryova)
Aleksandr Kim, a Russian rights activist, intervened when he saw Moscow police stopping migrants for identity checks and refused to comply when officers demanded his documents based solely on his appearance. Kim hopes to to shed light on police officers' use of racial profiling.
This spring, a march in Bishkek marked International Women's Day by calling for equality for all -- including LGBT people. Members of the LGBT community say it marked a turning point in the fight for equal rights in Kyrgyzstan, but they describe ongoing battles with threats and job discrimination.
Francis Savinovskikh made headlines in Russia when the authorities took two foster children away, citing concerns that their upbringing was not "traditional." At the time, Savinovskikh had the name Yulia and didn't accept being a man.
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