The documentary film «Don’t Believe. Don’t be
Afraid. Don’t Ask» is an attempt of the German
director Peter Ripple to examine «secrets of Russian
soul». The author takes the theme of blatnyak, the
genre that was very popular for the last 100 years and
now rapidly gives up its positions. Songs from criminal
life or blatnyak, songs of thieves and cheaters,
songs of those who served time in prisons and camps
despite the full disapproval of such creative art by
police and official authorities were always liked by
people. They were illegally recorded, illegally copied,
sold and changed all over the country. Though it was
not popular to declare love for this genre, practically
every singer beginning from the great ones like
Leonid Utesov and Alesha Dimitrievich included
blatnyak into their repertoire. Sergei Shurov,
Alexander Razenbaum, Stas Baretsky, the group «La
Minor», Count Khortitsa, Khoggano and many others
talk with the author of the film «Don’t Believe.
Don’t be Afraid. Don’t Ask» about what passed and
what remained.