Chechnya Peace Forum is deeply saddened to receive the announcement of the passing of the Russian film producer Olga Konskaya. With her husband Andrei Nekrasov she has produced invaluable films of Russian oppression in Chechnya and the murder of dissident Alexander Litvinenko. Read the announcement from Dreamscanner mailto:dreamscanner@gmx.net below...

Olga Konskaya, a prominent Russian film producer, director and actress, died on May 28th at the age of 44. She was a graduate of the famous Moscow Arts Theatre school and went on to work in Stanislavski's MKHAT theatre. She starred in numerous feature films, receiving the prestigious award for the best lead role at the Kinotaurus Film Festival in 2001. When the Russian government unleashed a brutal military campaign in Chechnya in 2001 Olga broke up with the Russian cultural establishment and started her own company, Dreamscanner Productions, to produce films free of the grip Putin held on TV and film production. Together with her husband Andrei Nekrasov she produced a number of internationally acclaimed documentaries, such as "Disbelief", "My Friend Sasha, a very Russian Murder", "Rebellion, the Litvinenko Case". Until just a few days before her death Olga had been working on a film about Russian aggression in Georgia and its wider Caucasian context. The film is due to be released in the autumn.

Olga Konskaya was a selfless and uncompromising fighter against injustices committed in the name of her own people. She was ashamed of Russia's unquenchable thirst for blood in the Caucasus, of unending waves of war crimes and state sponsored terror in Chechnya. Her directness and rear lack of cynicism made her stand out even in the camp of Russian democrats, some of whom tend to reserve criticism of the government for narrow political squabbling, while forgiving its overwhelming nationalistic brutality. Having built relationships with many ordinary Chechens Olga Konskaya formulated an important vision for the sake of independence of the Chechen nation: the urgent task of preserving Chechen language and culture among the young generation of Chechens forced to seek refuge far from home.

We are profoundly shaken by Olga's untimely death. She will not see the fruit of her effort, but the inevitable triumph of justice will bear her unmistakeable mark. She will not be forgotten.