Captured shortly after a horrific attack against the company's then artistic director Sergei Filin, filmmakers Nick Read and Mark Franchetti’s new documentary goes behind the scenes at the Bolshoi Ballet. Here, Read discusses possible motives behind the shocking act:
“We were struggling to understand the management structure and relationships within the company, specifically between Filin and the theatre's general director Vladimir Urin. From the performers’ perspective, they felt that they weren’t being listened to, there was a lot of unhappiness expressed about how Filin had been handling the management process, and there was a lot of unease about how he was behaving. And you know, compared to football clubs here, who says a great player can be a great coach? Who says a great dancer—and Filin was—will become a great manager?”
Bolshoi Babylon is out now in cinemas and available to rent and buy on-demand