RT PRESENTS 1917 RUSSIAN REVOLUTION IN VIVID 360-DEGREE DOCUMENTARY VIDEO SERIES

MOSCOW, OCTOBER 25, 2017 – RT presents the first three in a series of eight panoramic videos illustrating scenes from Revolutionary Russia as part of RT’s groundbreaking, year-long historical re-enactment project, #1917LIVE.

The mini-documentaries, all published in the fully-immersive, 360-degree video format, recreate events surrounding the Russian Revolution that began on October 25 (November 7, New Style), 1917.

The videos present a unique, 360-degree re-enactment of the tumultuous revolutionary events that took place 100 years ago in and around what was then known as Petrograd (St. Petersburg today). Filming for the videos took place at locations authentic to the time period, including in an old, well-known railway station and the apartments of revolutionary leaders. Through the course of the series, the audience will get to experience many different sites of revolutionary Petrograd, including an abandoned estate, an underground printing house, a safe house, and even the battlefields of the First World War.
‘The July crisis in Petrograd’ is a sketch of the events of the July crisis of 1917, when a wave of unrest across the capital followed defeats at the front. The audience becomes witness to the tragedy unfolding in one of the courtyards of Petrograd.

‘Vitebsky railway station’ transports the viewer to battle-ridden Petrograd in March 1917. Wounded soldiers share the latest news from the front, and street children steal bread from a street vendor.

‘In the trenches of World War I’ showcases the participation of the Russian Empire in the Great War. Together with the soldiers, the audience is trapped in a trench during an attack.

Each video in the eight-part series tells a different story of life in the revolutionary era. All videos will be published on RT’s social media platforms and RT’s VR app RT360 (Google Play, App Store, Oculus) between October 25 and November 7, 2017, marking the centennial of the historic event.

In late 2016, RT launched one of the biggest historical re-enactments on Twitter ever. Brought together under a flagship feed called the Russian Telegraph (RT), a fictional media outlet, the innovative project consists of dozens of Twitter accounts set up as key characters of the time period, from the last Russian Tsar Nicholas II and revolutionary leader Vladimir Lenin to common workers and soldiers. The project includes a series of specially-produced promos recreating the events that took place 100 years ago, such as the abdication of Nicholas II, the starvation in Petrograd, and Lenin’s famous speech.

Historians from the US and UK have taken part in the project, as well as Paulo Coelho, world-renowned Brazilian author of ‘The Alchemist’, ‘Veronika Decides to Die’ and ‘The Zahir’. Coelho runs the Twitter account of Margaretha Zelle, a famous double agent during WWI, better known by her stage name Mata Hari. There are over 80 accounts in total, tweeting in real time. Nearly 200,000 people are now following the project’s accounts, and the #1917LIVE hashtag has been used in over 170,000 tweets.

RT’s project has sparked interest in audiences across the world and inspired many followers to join in. Any Twitter user can create an account to participate in the project under #1917CROWD.

RT’s #1917LIVE historical re-enactment on Twitter has caught the eye of various public figures, journalists and members of the academia in the US, Europe and Latin America. #1917LIVE participants or followers include British and Italian MPs, the Spanish ambassador to Russia, the British ambassadors to Estonia and Ukraine, and the Russian Mission to the UN. Journalists at The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, and France 24 are following the project, while stories about #1917LIVE have been published in more than 10 languages.

In October 2017, #1917LIVE made it to the finals of The Drum Social Buzz Awards in the “Most Innovative Use of Social” category, the finals of the 2017 Clio Entertainment for “Best TV Promo Campaign”, and the finals of the Shorty Social Good Awards.