Michael Borodin: The convenience storefront masks slavery

The collapse of the USSR, led to massive social inequality and migration from the ex-Soviet Republics by people desperate for work. The situation is exacerbated by corrupt police and a barely-functioning justice system. All kinds of slavery are proliferating as migrants are exploited.

Male life expectancy in Russia has risen and fallen in line with economic conditions, but after more than a decade of recovery due to oil and gas exports it is still about 10 years less than in Western Europe. One of the consequences of economic uncertainty has been increased migration from the ex-Soviet Republics to Moscow and European Russia.

Michael Borodin's ironically-titled film "The convenience store" is a docu-drama based on the story of the Golyanovo Slaves, which also takes the opportunity to cover other kinds of slavery and trafficking in present-day Russia.

Organisations such as the Civic Assistance Committee struggle to help migrants in these desperate circumstances, but are hampered by police corruption and inefficiency, and also by the Foreign Agents Law, which has just been declared illegal by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR).

I spoke with the director for The Prisma Multicultural Newspaper, after his film was shown at the 2022 Indielisboa film festival.

The full interview with links and stills can be seen here: https://theprisma.co.uk/2022/06/20/michael-borodin-the-convenience-storefront-masks-slavery/