Slava Republik

2023 IFM Graduation Project
Mentors: Stéphane Wargnier, Alice Litscher, Mathias Ohrel, Guillaume Jolly, Manon Renault, Olivia Grandperrin

Slava Republik is a series of video & photoshoots set within a fictional totalitarian state. The project explores daily life in a totalitarian utopia riddled with government thought policing, media propaganda, violence and war, while highlighting creative ways that people and especially women, rebel and stand up to an oppressive regime. The war in Ukraine pushed me to create this project. Born in Russia and having left it as a child, I feel both a closeness and a very critical disconnection from the country. Seeing with horror the atrocities committed by Russia, I wanted to respond to them through my work.

Branding:

The flag design is inspired by the communists’ use of the carnation flower, paired with the color purple that historically has contradicting symbolism: it stands for royalty and wealth, but also mourning and deprivation. In this universe the color symbolizes the corrupt SLAVA government, people who work for the government or citizens who believe in the propaganda.

Their leader is named Vladimir Perun (after the slavic god of war).
His image was created using AI technology (prompt: “Charismatic blonde tyrant leader portrait propaganda style”) and then utilized in propaganda posters below, with Orwell's famous 1984 quote “War is Peace, Freedom is Slavery, Ignorance is Strength” in Russian.

The Stories:

The Grip of Fear

5 Videos + 11 Images

Surveils the daily life of citizens in the Slava Republik. Most of them know they are being watched but feel powerless or terrified to oppose their government, others are completely brainwashed and worship the head of state. Clothing plays a central part in each story: purple signals conformity in this world; these characters represent the government or are completely obedient to it, and they are styled in a more classic, historically inspired or conservative way. The characters that try to rebel have more variety in their clothing colors and they are wearing contemporary / futuristic looks to signal progressive ideas and freedom of thought.

The Conformists: CCTV footage; People in shades of purple walking around the square, busy trying to get somewhere

Oblivion: CCTV footage; Two young friends, having an all purple picnic in the grass, talking, laughing, smiling at the camera, living in their beautiful purple propaganda bubble. They represent the people who are comfortable in their ignorance, too disconnected from reality to see the lies. Maybe they are daughters of high ranking government officials so their lives are comfortable and they are oblivious to the suffering of others

Cautious Resistance: CCTV footage; Older gentleman, he has been around long enough to see how the government manipulates the public, when he was younger it's possible that he supported the government and was a member of the party but became disillusioned to it when he saw the scope of their self serving, oppression and cruelty. He comes into the scene with a chair and a drink, wearinf neutral colors, reading a newspaper, he throws the newspaper at the camera when it gets close to him. He is not an active participant in the opposition but he’s also not as afraid of the government.

Young Mother holding a future soldier: News footage; This scene was inspired by a news report that widows and mothers of Russian soldiers that died in the war in Ukraine were gifted fur coats. According to the report "widows were given 21 fur coats as compensation for the breadwinner who died in Ukraine" were filmed saying "thank you" in unison. A Russian anti-war group later reported that a number of them weren't allowed to keep the coats, which means that this publicity stunt was likely staged. 17 I found it absurd and tone-deaf that this was considered as acceptible propoganda in the first place, so I played with this idea by having the mother give up her toddler to the governmebt representitive for a fur coat.

The Rebels: News footage; A couple, walking towards a passage with a flag hanging at the entrance. They snatch the flag off in front of the camera, stomp on it and run away as the camera is zooming in. They represent the opposition, they are anti-establishment, they don't hide their disdain for the government thus they are not wearing purple. Even if their small actions of disobedience won't change the reality of their surroundings they are ready to protest any way they can.

Lookbook

Video, Photography and After Effects - Guillaume Jolly
Styling - Iris Laricheva
Make Up - Anthony Reinhard
Models - Anitra Laurie, Annagloria Danese, Candice Morin, Fred Brizard (Noah MGMT), Ohad Amzallag, Sali Songne
Wardrobe IFM Fashion Design Students - Remi Strikkers, Philippine Moretto, Olivia Philibert, Martha Hupfauer & Jonas Konrad
Additional Wardrobe - F141, Jacker, Mazing Nzela, La Compagnie du Costume

The Power of Memory

4 Still Life Images

What do the citizens take with them when they are forced to abandon their homes and run away from a violent war that breaks out on their borders as president Perun viciously attacks a neighboring country? A series of still life images that explores the relics of one imaginary Slava Republik family. It consists of objects each member of the family took with them, exploring also the matriarch role as the caretaker of the family - bringing the food, water and valuables; while her children bring toys, diaries and other sentimental items. With the husband not bringing almost anything at all, the bloody flag he was carrying leaves a question of their whereabouts.

The Mother

The Child

The Teenage Daughter

The Father

Photography - Anna Tytarenko
Lights - Benjamin Torres
Jewelry by Grains de Verre

The Strength of Delicacy

3 Portrait Images

How do women convey messages in a repressive environment? A female point of view on resistance to oppression, violence and war in 3 parts.

Embroidery as a trauma healing mechanism: Inspired by Ukrainian women’s artistic rebellion in the soviet gulags.

Body Armor: Like a rose protecting itself with its thorns, this imagined feminine self defense device keeps the woman safe from sexual violence, a crime that becomes extremely common during war time.

Slavic Hair: In ancient times an unmarried slavic woman could only be seen in public wearing a single braid; a married woman would wear two braids. The tradition of policing women's bodies through hair still exists today. Here the women are intertwined in a human protest chain line, holding the braid as a symbol of their unity against their oppression.

Photography - Anastasiia Ivinskaya
Make Up - Noa Yehonatan
Hair - Shaida Anna
Styling - Alena Ploski & Shira Ohana
Models - Valeriia Yarmola, Nataliia Kropotova, Diana Dolyon
Jewelry by Grains de Verre
Special thanks to Kvitka - Ukrainian Designers Pop Up