Screening of The Master and Margarita and discussion with BCB Writer-in-residence Joshua Yaffa and the film’s director Michael Lockshin

When Michael Lockshin’s The Master and Margarita premiered in Russia earlier this year, it quickly became one of the country’s most successful films, despite—or perhaps because of—fierce attempts to suppress it. On May 1, Bard College Berlin and Yorck Kinogruppe cohosted a special screening of the film at Filmtheater am Friedrichshain, followed by a discussion with director Michael Lockshin and BCB writer-in-residence Joshua Yaffa, who writes on Russia for The New Yorker.

The film, based on Mikhail Bulgakov’s novel of the same name, follows a writer in 1930s Moscow whose manuscript about Pontius Pilate and Christ is censored by the Soviet state. As he begins a new novel inspired by his love for Margarita, the boundaries between reality and fiction begin to collapse. At the center of the story is the devil, who arrives in Moscow with a theatrical flair for exposing the vanity, hypocrisy, and corruption of the regime.

Lockshin, who grew up in both the US and Russia, has been vocal in his opposition to Russia’s war in Ukraine since the day of the invasion. His stance on the war, along with the political tone of the film, led to calls by state loyalists and pro-war ideologues to ban the film and prosecute its director. State-aligned media accused the film of promoting “anti-Soviet” and “anti-modern Russian” ideas—charges not unfamiliar to readers of Bulgakov’s work, which circulated underground for decades before its official publication.

Despite its minimal promotion and its R-rating, the film sold over six million tickets in Russia, becoming one of the highest-grossing films in the country’s history. Lockshin noted during the Q&A session that the threat of censorship may have played a role in drawing audiences: “People kept going to the cinema because rumours spread that the film was going to be cut tomorrow.”

The Berlin screening drew a full house of students, faculty, and local cinephiles, who stayed for an animated discussion afterward. Moderating the Q&A, Yaffa reflected on the irony of the film’s reception in Russia, while Lockshin spoke about the challenges of adapting Bulgakov’s layered narrative for the screen and the film’s navigation of political and religious themes.

The event offered a moment to consider the enduring relevance of Bulgakov’s text and the risks artists take when confronting political power.

By: Mishel Jovanovska '25

Post Date: 05-16-2025