Look Who it Was Random video

The Orthodox Christian order Sorok Sorokov - The Westerners

3,208 views · Published 5 February 2018 · 29:39 · Indexed 29 October 2026

Channel: vpro world stories · 2018 · Travel & Events

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The 23-year-old Igor Ilyin, history student in Moscow, is a member of Sorok Sorokov. The followers of this orthodox Christian order have conservative views on gender, sexuality, reproduction and the role of men and women. In an attempt to understand this, Maral Noshad Sharifi steps into Igor's life.
Igor knows what it takes to protect the Russian Orthodox Church and keep the nation healthy. Maral goes with him to a big demonstration of Sorok Sorokov which he co-organizes. The purpose of this demonstration is to make clear how Russia remains big and strong: Russians must have many children. That is why Igor is against abortion. And he does not have any doubts about homosexuals and migrants: you should not let them go their own way, because then your country will not exist in no time, he says.

It is not easy for Maral to understand Igor with his spirited views. They collide regularly. Sex for reproduction is the only legitimate form, according to Igor. He is disgusted by debauchery. Just like all those Westerners who just change their sex. After all, people are not on earth for pleasure but for reproduction purposes.

Day and night, one of our program makers follows remarkable young people who take us into their world. A world that is no longer waiting for Western ideals. Partying, hating, loving, praying and working: we experience adventures with people who are different in life than we are; looking for new ideas, amazing insights and totally different truths.

The westerners step out of their own comfort zone, directly into someone else's existence elsewhere. With an open mind, sharpness, empathy and humor they attract people who are completely different in life. Each and every one of them act from their own perspective and also have to criticize Western ideals such as democracy, religious freedom, women's emancipation or animal welfare. This leads to astonishing insights and confrontations with other truths, on which own prejudices can be tested and perhaps also revised.

Looking beyond our own navel, beyond our Western dogmas - to be able to reflect on what it actually means to be 'Western'. The Westerners combine participatory journalism with telling stories that surprise, move and defy our world view.

One Westerner, one week, somewhere in the world in a completely different culture, challenging the western privilege. With: Nicolaas Veul, Maral Noshad Sharifi, Eva Cleven, Willem Timmers and Stef Biemans

Presented by: Maral Noshad Sharifi, Stef Biemans, Willem Timmers, Nicholas Veul, Eva Cleven, 
© VPRO April 2017

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