Prison techno: Russian female inmates SHOOT MUSIC VIDEO as New Year’s greeting from Siberian penal colony

A group of women serving their time in a Siberian colony have come up with an unusually fun, if not trope-breaking, prison pastime: shooting humorous music videos imitating Russian pop stars for the internet’s viewing pleasure.

More than 40 million people online have watched the pop music video “Plachu na Tekhno” (“Crying at a Techno Party”) by Cream Soda and Khleb – but the track now has an unusual contender for likes and views: a quirky fan-made rendition, which caught the attention of the Russian media on Friday.

The cover video is a complete parody of the original clip – dedicated to all parties and get-togethers cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic – but is instead set at Prison Colony No. 9 in Siberia’s largest city, Novosibirsk, with an all-female cast.

Though the women had already begun honing their acting skills in the prison theater, it was no small task to pull off the cover video, as the original footage featured more than a dozen colorfully dressed characters, who perform dance routines from their balconies – cooped up in their apartments because of the lockdown.

Using handmade costumes, the inmates recreated the music video nearly scene-by-scene, while also adding a New Year twist. With the holidays just around the corner, the clip concludes with the appearance of Father Frost – Russia’s counterpart to Santa Claus – and his granddaughter, Snegurochka.  

If that sounds like the making of a new viral YouTube channel, fans may be disappointed, as the inmates’ clip was uploaded to the official page of the Novosibirsk branch of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service. While the authorities allowed the women to dedicate the clip to all the New Year’s shindigs that they missed “due to the decision by the court,” they were not permitted their own platform for future creations.

Though comments on the video have been turned off, it quickly racked up a pile of views and likes. “It’s so cool! Great job,” Nikita, Cream Soda band’s director, told Life.ru when asked about the cover. “We’re really happy to learn that people maintain their sense of humanity even in such circumstances,” he said, adding that the band was grateful that the girls enjoyed their music.

It appears that the prison actresses could continue to churn out charming viral content, as they previously recreated another Russian pop hit – “Uno” by Little Big – which the band originally wrote for the cancelled Eurovision 2020 song contest (another victim of Covid-19).  

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