Report by Andrey Kolesnikov about how in Torzhok on March 27 there were figures for whom Torzhok was not the size

On March 27, Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the city of Torzhok, Tver Region, and met with regional cultural figures. Kommersant special correspondent Andrey Kolesnikov draws attention to the fact that at this meeting there was only one figure of a different scale. And universal.

The glorious, as they say, city of Torzhok (as it is usually called by people who do not live there or have never been there, although it is glorious, why not?) was awaiting the arrival of Vladimir Putin with great interest.

A significant part of the life of city residents takes place in Moscow, and in local Telegram channels people suffered:

– Had arrived? And we are in Moscow! On Leningradka. I won’t have time, it’s all worth it!

– Who came?

– Bye Peskov!

— Will it be only Peskov or Putin too?

– Nobody knows anything anymore! Shoigu is coming out!

– Well, there’s no need for Putin here!

—Have you arrived or not? Someone speak up!

“Of course, I understand everything, but today is my birthday, my husband can’t get home because the roads are blocked!”

It turned out that Vladimir Putin had arrived after all.

– He’s getting out of the car! – responded commentators on the Telegram channel “News. Torzhok.”

– He’s already in the museum!

— I came light, without a backpack!

At this time, Vladimir Putin in the historical and ethnographic museum actually studied the contents, or rather the contents of birch bark letters.

– The man trained in literacy! Most likely, it was even a child,” a museum employee told him.

And in the Telegram channel they were nervous:

— There is an option to go to Krasnoarmeyka, who knows?

– No, only if through the highway and Kalinka!

Coming out of the museum, and then out of the car, the president went to greet the residents.

– That’s it, now Torzhok is the center of the world! — the Telegram channel responded.

“The journalists blocked everything!”

The woman who signed the president’s book “Born from Tver” made a special impression on everyone:

– That’s it, grandma hit the jackpot!

“They’d better tell him about Catherine’s palace!”

Apparently, everything is not very good with the palace.

Meanwhile, the president began a meeting with cultural figures of the Tver region.

— Will the Sapsan really go from Moscow to Torzhok? — the Telegram channel got nervous.

– Of course not!

– Vasyuki straight!

— Ask for new buses!

Telegram channels were strangely loyal to the events taking place.

Meanwhile, at the beginning, Vladimir Putin himself said why this meeting could not find a place in the Russian President’s schedule:

— You know that on the 25th we celebrate Cultural Worker’s Day. I was going to hold this meeting on this very day, but due to the tragic events in Moscow, this barbaric terrorist attack, we postponed all events of this kind.

In connection with culture, Vladimir Putin was concerned about the topic of its abolition:

— We can add that when we hear somewhere from the outside, someone talks about the abolition of Russian culture, in general, the culture of the peoples of Russia in essence, we understand: only stupid people can talk like that. Because to abolish the culture of an entire people or entire peoples, and we have 190 of them – peoples and ethnic groups – live in Russia, this is simply unrealistic! And our cultural figures say about those who talk about the abolition of Russian culture: they are stupid people! They also speak more rudely (Presidential Adviser Vladimir Tolstoy smiled promisingly.— A.K.), despite the fact that they are cultural figures… But they say the right thing.

“Local authorities, we are at your disposal,” Mr. Putin said, without even suspecting how correctly and even jesuitically he formulated it. The fact is that it fell into the possession of the Minister of Culture of the Tver Region, Ksenia Glinka. And there was no chance to escape.

At first she said something, but it was not audible. Then she was asked to turn on the microphone.

“Oh, it worked,” she said with satisfaction.

Of course it will work if you press the button.

“We would like to sincerely congratulate you on your election to the position,” she said, first of all, so as not to forget. “The elections really showed a historical result and indicate that the entire Russian people were united in their understanding, clearly formulated the vision of their future!

She formulated it correctly. I wanted to say that it will go far. But there was still no complete certainty about this.

“Also thank you,” added Ksenia Glinka, “for the invitation to dialogue, where we can share our aspirations, our ideas… Maybe we will be able to boast about something!”

It’s worth saying right away: the latter was a complete success.

— A cultural worker is not just… It’s a state of mind! — Ksenia Glinka, who reminded me more and more of someone, summed it up intermediately.

But who?

However, she soon quickly explained everything herself.

She reminded me, it turns out, of herself.

But she didn’t explain it right away. She just took her time.

It is worth saying about the meeting that after what will be described below, regional problems were discussed for about an hour, and all these people at the table, working in libraries, theaters, and museums, perhaps did not even believe themselves – that they are sitting here and now and talking about everything with such a person, whom it is simply unimaginable.

As it turned out, there was only one person on a par with him. No, not the governor of the Tver region Igor Rudenya.

Ksenia Glinka said:

— I can say that, due to the duty of my profession, I travel a lot, visit, see life in the countryside, in small towns, communicate with the heads… And I constantly ask the question: are you ready there, on the ground, to receive our young specialists? And I was well surprised when I heard: yes, yes, yes, we are ready!.. But I would like to draw attention to the other side of this story. It is necessary to increase and popularize the authority of cultural workers through the process of creating films!

Yes, someone had to finally say it.

“Maybe it will be some kind of TV program,” however, Ksenia Glinka agreed to less. “Because it’s no secret that we haven’t filmed anything about the village for a long time!” By and large, no one knows how people live!

Yes, it is clear that Ksenia Glinka is one of the few who are in the know.

And here she decided to explain the main thing.

“If you allow me,” she turned to the president, “can I tell you a little about yourself?”

I knew it.

By this point, I really already knew a lot about her. I just looked at what they wrote. They wrote that she was a dubbing actress. But this was an understatement of her merits. She was just an actress. This was evident both from the way she shone at this meeting and from what I also found about her on the Internet. And most importantly, because she now could not help but tell Vladimir Putin about herself.

“I was born in the city of Kimry,” she narrated, and, of course, not a single moderator, so to speak, behaved like that at a meeting with the president, and that’s what made her so interesting now (what she would stop at, I was just a little worried I, and for her).— And so it also happened historically… This is the Tver region… I am a local resident, one might say, and also my second hometown is the city of Torzhok, because part of my family is from the city of Torzhok! This is my real, absolutely indigenous Motherland, which I am very partial to!

But no, that, of course, was not all.

“At the age of 16, I went to study in Moscow at Oleg Pavlovich Tabakov’s course,” Ksenia Glinka continued, “then I worked for a long time at the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, filmed a lot (not dubbing.— A.K.)!.. And I would especially like, of course, to thank Olga Borisovna (Mrs. Lyubimova, Minister of Culture of Russia.— “Kommersant”), Igor Mikhailovich (Mr. Rudenya, Governor of the Tver Region.— A.K.) for the high trust that was shown to me when I was allowed to work here on earth, to come and work on my homeland and to use all my talents, all my skills and knowledge, to give everything to the earth!

She called the Tver region Earth. Of course, compared to Moscow, it’s heaven and earth.

“So,” continued Ksenia Glinka, “I see this request in other people, I see how people want to come back!” When we talk about young specialists… They may not be very young, like, for example, me… But, let’s say, young-looking specialists, for example, let’s call me that!.. – She laughed charmingly. – Here too, it seems to me , we can probably all think together in this direction, because I see how people return, happily return to our small towns with their families. They see the stability of their existence, this unhurriedness, this calmness! Then everything is close to us! There is a kindergarten nearby, which means many people perceive this as a positive thing. (But not everyone, of course. Residents of real megacities are ready for the fact that life can be tougher.— A.K.) Fresh air! We have the cleanest region – the Tver region!

“You know, if we build an expressway—and I think we will—then your life will also change a little: it won’t be so measured (and clean.” A.K.), – Mr. Putin disappointed her. – But the dynamics will increase if it is an hour to Moscow, and 1 hour and 15 minutes to St. Petersburg from here. This is another life! You lived in Moscow for a long time, so you understand what it’s like to move from one end to the other in Moscow. Sometimes three hours will pass.

Ksenia Glinka nodded gratefully. She was probably overcome by memories…

“For this purpose, we are introducing the “Zemstvo Cultural Worker” program,” Vladimir Putin brought her back to reality, “so that more specialists, including young specialists, will come, and younger people too.” People with experience are also needed here.

No, he didn’t give up on her.

“As for propaganda, or something, of this type of activity, of this profession, this is important for any profession,” the president unexpectedly continued. “We, of course, will have to do this.” We will try to do it! Olga Borisovna, how much is the support from the Cultural Foundation? About 44 topics, I think?

He turned to the Minister of Culture.

“Yes,” Mrs. Lyubimova chose to agree.

“There are also topics related to supporting cultural workers as a profession,” the president confidently suggested.

— Absolutely right, Vladimir Vladimirovich! — Olga Lyubimova went even further. “Both through the Cinema Fund and through the Ministry of Culture, we separately prioritize the topic and ask our filmmakers to think about the topic and write scripts.”

Not only did she know the word, “prioritize,” but she pronounced it. What, I now thought with sincere compassion about Mrs. Lyubimova, did she have to go through for such a term to appear in her life?

“Including,” she continued, “it seems to me very important, especially when such a program starts, to have more documentaries!” Fiction films take a long time to be shot… And to show such wonderful young guys who had already started before this program began!.. And now they have this opportunity to come and work! Show them: how they start, show the conditions in which they live, show how they begin to work with small children who come to them, in children’s art schools, in our wonderful libraries, which we are gradually restoring, repairing…— this was already a synopsis in her performance.

– If it is not a cultural heritage site – within the framework of the national project “Culture”! – continued Olga Lyubimova. – Of course, it is very important to record this moment together! You know, how it was accepted in the Soviet years – like a film chronicle. And here, of course, is a wonderful overall project in all areas.

“There were a lot of good things there even without the chronicle,” Vladimir Putin added. “Tractor Drivers”, “Girls”… They look at Aniskin – these are also specific examples from a specific area, sometimes from law enforcement, but nevertheless there are a lot of good ones things we had before! And now we need to return to this!

Yes, if it is not yet clear, “Aniskin and Fantomas” was a popularization of the work of the district police officer. And Fantômas, of course.

“Please look,” the president asked the minister. “What does “look” mean? You can simply give them tasks – they are creative people, also cultural workers, they will be happy to do things for themselves, but only for themselves in the regions!

That’s it, bingo. Ksenia Glinka will be happy to star in a film about herself.

Andrey Kolesnikov