ABSTRACT
This chapter examines Baskova's filmmaking as an alternative to the mainstream cinema in Putin's Russia and the world at large. In order to do this, the chapter will apply the concept of 'non-cinema', as elaborated by William Brown. Non-cinema is a response to what Brown elsewhere has termed 'supercinema'; a special-effects cinema that relies heavily on digital technology. Non-cinema opposes not only such mainstream cinematic forms, but also the use of digital technology. 'Non-cinema' seeks out subversive elements in low-budget digital filmmaking. These two concepts, supercinema and non-cinema, are in the chapter applied to dissect the post-Soviet Russian film industry, arguing that Baskova's filmmaking belongs to the latter. Non-cinematic films can often be distributed for free online, which offers unlimited access to the product rather than creating exclusivity that can be turned into profit for the filmmaker. In this sense, non-cinema exists outside the economy of mainstream or arthouse cinema. It is the making that is important.
