Having become a professional journalist, she worked for several television companies until she was invited to the Vremya program on ORT. Here she prepared reports about Yeltsin's illness, about the war in Kosovo.
Prior to starting her musical career, she worked as a political commentator on the program “Vremya” on the First Channel of Television, worked in the Kremlin and hot spots (Kosovo, Chechnya, Ingushetia).
She was born on October 1, 1972. She received a philological education. Then Lena worked on Vologda television. Soon she moved to Moscow, where she entered the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University. Having become a professional journalist, she worked for several television companies until she was invited to the Vremya program on ORT. Here she prepared reports about Yeltsin's illness, about the war in Kosovo.
In the 2000s, she left journalism and took up music professionally, creating the band Butch. She released 4 albums, the last "Credo" was released in October 2007 with the updated name of the group - "Elena Pogrebizhskaya". In 2005, Elena published the book "The Artist's Diary", which was the bestseller for 3 weeks. In 2007, her book "Confession of the Four" was published about Irina Bogushevskaya, Anna Gerasimova and Svetlana Surganova and a documentary about them, "I'll get up anyway."
In 2007, her next film, Blood Seller, was released on the Ren-TV channel about the writer Igor Alekseev, who fought cancer and, as a result, death itself. In 2008, with this film, Elena became the winner of the country's main television award TEFI. In the fall of 2008, the Ren-TV channel aired her next film, Doctor Liza, about Dr. Elizaveta Glinka, a doctor who helps the terminally ill. Now Elena is working on new films and albums.
psychology:
You said that you yourself struggled with panic attacks. What is this story?
Let's start with the fact that the expression panic attacks has always been a part of The Sopranos for me. The fat mafioso loves his wife. Also a daughter and a son. That doesn't stop him from having a mistress young years and unbridled behavior. Soprano - normal surname, Yes? - stands in a traffic jam on his cool car. I honestly don't understand them. And here, fucking, is experiencing panic horror and loses consciousness. In the next scene, the doctor puts him on Prozac, which he has been consuming ever since, suffering from sudden fits of terror and sweating, which the doctor categorized as panic attacks.
This would have remained part of the series if one day I suddenly didn’t become unbearably scared: it was as if I was carried away from the rest of the world behind an invisible wall, where I felt very bad. My heart was pounding, I felt some kind of nasty weakness ... An hour passed. Uff, I think, what nonsense, has passed - and okay.
But the nonsense did not pass. It began to repeat every day and last longer and longer. I was shaking like a fever. It shook once for five days in a row. All the terrible diseases known to me were rushing through my head.
I had to go to the doctors. The survey was extensive, long and expensive. In the end, the doctors said: "Yes, everything is in order, the tests are good, everything is normal." And meanwhile I was shaking. Large and small tremors. I was very uncomfortable: suddenly people will notice that I am trembling, for example, in transport or in line. Plus, I was terrified. An alarming record was scrolling in my head: what if the bridge falls, what if the elevator, and what if we crash into the wall, and so on without stopping. A couple of months later, the disease drove me home. And no one understood what was happening to me.
What ended up helping you?
E.P.:
When official medicine shrugged it off, it became clear to me, an atheist, a pragmatist, a realist, that I needed to order a magpie prayer service, go to a psychic and shamans. It was pretty interesting. At least now I know what a magpie is. The psychic woman burned candles around me, but it didn't get any better. The shaman woman burned some twigs, spat a little, and even bit me a little. Nothing changed.
In the end, someone advised me to go to a psychiatrist. Moving around the city was already a feat for me. In any place, I could be caught in fits of horror, trembling and “change”. The psychiatrist took right in the classic psychiatric hospital with a large park full of patients. It was for the first time that she uttered the hitherto unknown diagnosis of "panic attacks". And she prescribed pills that turned me into a sleepy vegetable for two years.
It happened in 2004, at the height of my musical career. I was supposed to give concerts several times a week, go on tour, record songs, give interviews, participate in photo shoots, shoot videos, in general, do everything that a rock star should do. I had to live in such a way that no one realized that in fact I only think about how scared I am. Two years later, I and all my relatives believed that now I will always live like this, that it will never end. But it's all over. Not by itself, but thanks to my psychotherapist Maria Orlova. She cured me in six months. Conversations I can't even remember right now. And also - thanks to my work on myself. I no longer have panic attacks.
Oddly enough, in this state, for all its intolerance, there is a constructive element: they are trying to force a person to take responsibility for his life and change. For example, I am no longer a rock star. I'm filming documentaries. I have a movie about panic attacks. It's called "Panic Attacks". The characters in the film, men and women, talk about how panic attacks turned them into disabled people and how they later coped with it. Everyone has spent a large chunk of their lives on this. Every week, someone who has seen a movie on the internet writes me a letter saying, "I'm having panic attacks...". And there is often the word "thank you".
Why do you want to make a series?
E.P.:
Then, that nothing of the kind has been filmed. Because the movie "Panic Attacks" has more than 100,000 views, and panic attacks are not all that our psyche does to us. Then, that every third person suffers from some kind of addiction, and with him his whole family. And it is believed that nothing can be done about it. But it is possible. And how many of our loved ones have eaten a huge body for protection in order to save some unhealed emotional wounds under these bodies? How many people can't sleep well? How many suffer from depression?
Why this cycle? Not to watch a movie and forget about the disease. Not for the neurotics of all countries to unite. Not then, to poke a finger at the screen and say: "That's crazy something." These are educational films. So that we know that there, in our so deep inner world, is happening. And how he, this world, can turn our life into a real torment. And that it can be changed if you know how. Ultimately, these future films are about how to gain faith in yourself, how to begin to take responsibility for your own own life. There are a few days left until the end of the fees for my new movie on Planeta.ru. I want us to be involved in making these films together. Everyone needs them. Who wants to participate in good deed, join. If we raise money, there will be films, if not, then no.
The group, previously unknown to the masses, declared itself loudly and did it in a very original way. Front - the person of the group - a person without a specific gender: either a boy or a girl. The soloist (s) before reincarnation in Bucha appeared (s) to the world in the form of a special correspondent for the Vremya program, known to the people under the name of Elena Pogrebizhskaya. All other information is narrowly focused gossip.
In order for us to understand what “Butch” is, the Molotov Garage club took the liberty of bringing it to us, to the delight of true lesbians. Talking to Butch(s?) was scary. The question arose sharply, how to call it: “he” or “she”. So Elena... - Tell me, please, why is the group called "Butch"?
- We were looking for a sonorous short title which can be used in two languages. This is how the word "Butch" seemed to us. This is a common name, for example, George W. Bush has a dog that is called that. We are generally fans of his dog, can't you see? (Laughs.) Immediately I want to ask you not to hang any labels, this is stupid. I'm just "Butch" and that's it. (Elena once explained everything in a different way: “We read an article as a group. It was about the division of all lesbians into butches and fems, and someone jokingly suggested calling the group “Butch”. And so it stuck.”)
– To the question of labels - how can they be avoided by such a name?
- Undoubtedly. This name applies not only to me, but to the whole group. How to place accents depends only on who places them.
- Have you ever been reproached that this is just a stage image that has nothing to do with reality, something like Tatu?
- I have nothing to do with Tatu. This is not an image, not an image, I am like that. Regardless of what I do. But if this is journalism, then it is ridiculous to declare one's predilections. This does not fit into the rules of the game, and viewers of the Vremya program will hardly need or be interested in this. In this case, it seemed to me that it was pointless to pretend, to pretend to be someone, when you can be yourself. At the beginning of the journey, we really believed that this peculiarity of mine gives us competitive advantage. What can attract the attention of journalists is only good common cause. But we have already passed the initial stage, we have been noticed. Now it doesn't matter anymore.
- Doesn't such a specific name position the band for a very narrow audience, which, in fact, does not know the meaning of the word "butch"? And in general, is it not a shame that the hall is filled only with young ladies copying you?
- No, I don't think so. Our music is aimed at everyone, not only at the young ladies copying me. And if people came to look at me as an image, it means that they will have to hear our music anyway. For me, this is the main thing... I don't notice that there are only such people at my concerts.
–Why did you have to leave television?
Because I want to sing. Now it is difficult to determine the exact reason, but, apparently, the desire to sing won the desire to work on TV. Sometimes you want to return, but it’s more correct to do one thing in order to do it well and professionally. And in life there were many events that proved to me that this is mine.
– Is it possible to somehow define the style of music in which you work?
- No I can not. It seems to me that this is an occupation for other people, because I sing. Although everything that is offered, I deny. It's not pop, it's not rock, it's not funk, it's not folklore. Who knows what it is. I write the lyrics for all this, but not the music. Until recently, we worked like this: we adjusted the text to the already existing music, but now we are striving for a symbiosis of music and words. I think this is the best option for us.
– The question that interests all fans: when will your album be released?
- We planned that it would be released in April, but we did not succeed for reasons beyond our control, we will not name what. It's really strange that all the material is ready, but there is still no album. Mikhail Kozyrev is already joking, saying that the absence of an album is your conceptual deliberate step, it will be original ... A little more, and it will be just right to follow the advice.
– Then about the clip. Is it shown so rarely, too, for reasons beyond your control?
- With the clip, the story is generally interesting. If you remember, it was shown quite often on MTV, but then Madonna's video "Die another day" ruined everything, they are somewhat similar, especially the fencing moment. And our clip disappeared. Although, to be honest, ours appeared much earlier than Madonna's video. Anyway. By the way, another story. Remember Linda's song "Crow", the video for which was also in rotation before Madonna's video appeared? They were so similar that it was even strange. Naturally, Linda disappeared. It's a paradox, but that's how it all happened.
– Somehow you noticed that in all questions to you you feel biased. What did you mean?
- I always want to dot the i's in conversations. Let it be rude, but I am NOT a lesbian, I am a supporter of heterosexual relationships. I consider myself a man, and like a normal man, I like women. In general, it's better to talk about music, otherwise our project is worth nothing.
– It feels like you have already "got" your image.
“Nonsense, how can I annoy myself. Are you tired of your arms or legs? That's funny. I am me, where to go. I can't "get" myself. Olga SKABEEVA, City Week
“Lena, you are great. Thank you for what you are doing” - such comments are not uncommon in the friend feed of Elena Pogrebizhskaya. At the beginning of the 2000s, Elena successfully performed with her rock band Butch, today the winner of several television and film awards makes documentaries about people. Her characters are very different, in their stories, according to Elena, the unequal struggle catches, first of all, with the disease, the state, indifference. Elena is convinced that her work makes the world a little better, forcing the audience to think and do. Sometimes the reaction of the audience provokes changes at the government level. As it happened with the film "Mom, I'll kill you" about the life of teenagers in a boarding school in the village of Bolshoye Kolychevo, Moscow Region. Elena shared this story, as well as thoughts about her path in cinema and news about current projects with the readers of To4ki-Treff.
The path to documentary
About ten years ago, as a result of a stupid and irresponsible accident, I had a near-death experience. And then two years of darkness - I regret this period. But then the first questions about life, death, meaning appeared. And I shot the film "I'll get up anyway" (about the women of "Russian rock" Irina Bogushevskaya, Svetlana Surganova and Umka, - ed.). It was a film about overcoming for me. With the next project "Blood Seller" - about the writer Igor Alekseev, a brave man who fought on the verge of possibilities, I managed to go further in search of answers. And then there was the story of Dr. Lisa - again about difficult questions ..."Mom, I will kill you"
One day, my friend Masha invited me to go with volunteers to an orphanage in Kolychevo. I then had an unsuccessful streak in my life, and Masha offered to unwind and at the same time do a good deed - to sing to the boarding school children ... The children themselves sang great in chorus. Volunteers who were called sponsors in the boarding school were warmly received: a group of volunteers consisted of bank employees and constantly brought some gifts to children. By the time I arrived, the friendship between the bankers and the boarding school had been going on for several years.Gradually, I began to notice that strange things were happening in the orphanage. From time to time, children from the boarding school disappeared somewhere without any intelligible explanations. It turned out that children were sent to psychiatric hospitals as a punishment, where they were fed heavy drugs so that they would no longer annoy adults. The guys here are considered mentally retarded, oligophrenics, born to become painters, workers and seamstresses. Only such a future can they have due to the diagnosis, corrective school curriculum, only these professions they are trained. All this was decided for them at the age of 7. Why don't children have the right to choose something else? Why are they isolated from all other people, and why do they never make their own decisions?
What to do?
I wanted to get to the bottom of this more and more. We shot a film about children for a year and edited and rewrote the same amount. Among those who agreed to finance my idea, there was one charitable foundation, thanks to which the disc with the finished film got to Chulpan Khamatova. After watching, she felt desire to do something, I contacted Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs Olga Golodets and gave her a disk with the film. The Deputy Prime Minister looked at him. It was Thursday. On Monday, the director of the boarding school called me. I was surprised: we had not communicated for a year before. He also watched the film and, to put it mildly, was not happy.I decided to find out what was happening with my film, and went with representatives of the charitable foundation to The White house. Olga Golodets has a large TV in the waiting room.
- Sit down, - she said to the ministers, - watch the film without fail. Or upload to iPads, I'll check. This is the Middle Ages - send children to punishment in psychiatric hospitals! - All this she told with obvious indignation in her voice. The guys and I looked at each other: did she really not know about this?
“It is necessary to separate pedagogical neglect from psychiatric diagnoses,” Golodets continued. - Here is Sasha (the hero of the film) - an intelligent boy! He obviously just has a lag, he himself says in the film that his mother drank and did not deal with it. Still, - the vice-premier continued resolutely, - it is necessary to attract young specialists, not deformed by the system, to work with children. By the way, I will go there on Saturday, to your boarding school...
And who is to blame?
Children from the orphanage feverishly called the volunteers and me. After watching a movie in the Government House, commissions tortured the orphanage, educators took away expensive gifts and cosmetics from children. The children scrubbed the corridors twice a day. It seemed that the boarding school was sterilely cleaned and all the liberties brought by philanthropists were eliminated. There were rumors that the boarding school would be closed and the director fired.- What kind of creature has arranged for us? - Lekha, a guy from the boarding school, told me on the phone, clearly alluding to me.
- Do you seriously think that I can send you commissions with a wave of my hand and give orders to take away computers?
“Listen, but you still don’t come here,” Lyokha breathed, switching to a whisper. - Here the teachers tell us that you made a film about what kind of children are bad, and because of this we are all tormented.
- It's not true, Lech.
- Yes, I know. And others believe.
And it was no longer clear to me whether it was good or bad that the film landed straight into the government. On the one hand, our message went straight to those who are really capable of making a difference. At the same time, my team believed that officials could deal with the task only in the usual way - to clean up the territory in a separate boarding school, report it as end result, ignoring the problem in whole country. For her part, Deputy Prime Minister Golodets said that they, government officials, are only criticized and there will always be those who are happy even to throw a stone for something good. And they in the government also want reforms.
... Six months have passed since the film was released and the hype in the White House rose. All sorts of officials visited Kolychevo, the governor flew to the playground by helicopter, Olga Golodets herself came with ministers. All the children were checked, made sure that every single one of them had mental retardation. Abuses were not found, and yet Golodets forbade punishing children with a psychiatric hospital. The director quit. And it seems that legislative changes are planned, according to which orphanages will be reorganized from long-term storage facilities for children into apartments where children can live until they are taken by a foster family. And in Berlin, my friends took the film to MEP Werner Schultz and with his help staged a screening for German viewers. A little later, the movie was shown by the ZDF channel.
For what? Personal and professional.
While working on projects, it became clear to me that with my stupid fears I can rest, compared to what the heroes of my films go through. I also realized that life is short after all and it’s better not to waste it on garbage. But something to be in time, nevertheless, it would be worth it. My heroes teach me not to sit straight on the priest. I'm trying to change things for the better. Quite often I pick up street dogs and cats and find them new owners. Well, I still shoot films for the same.I am a documentary filmmaker - that is, a journalist and filmmaker rolled into one. Of course, the films I make are my subjective view of the world. As a rule, there is quite a lot of my text. So the author's opinion is usually present in full height. I don’t hold back emotional pathos in any way, I just prefer a neutral style. The facts in my cinema, even without additional anguish, will themselves have the desired effect on the viewer. And if I still escalate, it will cause distrust. I can’t distance myself emotionally, I worry about everything for a long time. Sometimes I go to a psychotherapist with this.
My mission is to show people through the film what I see and what they can do about it. Usually, by the way, this is what happens. People think, come, for example, as volunteers to see Dr. Lisa, take orphans from an orphanage into a family, or change laws, like Deputy Prime Minister Golodets.
Current crowdfunding projects
The film "Vaska" entered the final stage, yesterday we filmed our heroes who returned from honeymoon trip I'm starting to write a script and edit a movie. “The Andreeva Case” (Elena does not comment on the content until the completion of the work - ed.) We have just begun. Much more than the originally designated amount was collected for the shooting, thanks to which we were able to pay for the damage that Tatyana had to pay according to the verdict - a little more than 800 thousand rubles. Lawyers say that this is a strong argument in favor of her parole ...Polina Mandrik
Copyright: To4ka-Treff
October 2014
Short dark hair, a heavy look and sharp manners - this is exactly what the viewers remembered Elena Pogrebizhskaya. She was a reporter on Channel 1 and told the Russians about the situation in hot spots. Today you will learn about the most highlights in a career and some details of the personal life of this amazing woman.
Biography
Pogrebizhskaya Elena Vladimirovna was born on October 1, 1972 in Leningrad region. The village of Kamenka could not help such a creative girl to realize herself. Therefore, after graduating from school, she leaves for Vologda and enters Pedagogical University. Having received a diploma, she does not go to school according to the distribution, but gets a job local TV channel"TV-7". Having studied the entire television "kitchen" in a few months, she moves to Moscow, where she enters the Faculty of Journalism at Moscow State University.
During his studies, he becomes a commentator and reporter in the Vremya program. Her reports have always been liked by the audience, because she made them for the most hot topics. Her shootings in hot spots proved to the management that this girl has no fear even before the war. For 7 years, she managed to visit the most dangerous places where every day people killed each other. It left its mark. She became tougher, tempered character. In a few years, she could have taken a good post on Channel 1, but she preferred to try to realize herself in creativity.
Music
In 2001, Elena Pogrebizhskaya takes the pseudonym "Butch" and begins solo career. Her songs are far from lyrical and not everyone will like them. But she found her army of fans immediately. Tough, truthful lyrics and heavy music were the most popular at the time. She managed to release 4 albums, each of which can be considered commercially successful. It was at this time that everyone became interested in her Family status.
There were rumors about her gay. Elena Pogrebizhskaya and her girls have become one of the most discussed topics among fans. But she never presented her soul mate to the public. Only once did she declare that she was “friends passionately” with Svetlana Surganova. In 2005, she had already accumulated enough impressions from her musical activity to release a complete book. Who would have thought that the singer's work would become the bestseller for 3 weeks? Not every respected author succeeds!
Movie
In 2007, another book "Confessions of Four" was published, this time about colleagues on the stage - Surganova, Bogushevskaya and Gerasimova. But Elena feels understatement and starts shooting the film. The painting "I'll get up anyway" reveals the secrets of three performers. It was at this moment that Pogrebizhskaya decided to finish musical career and devote himself to directing.
Films by Elena Pogrebizhskaya
Outwardly, the girl changed - she grew her hair, put earrings in her ears and began to use cosmetics. She explained such changes by the fact that at the age of 34 it is time to stop jumping around the stage under a dog name and it's time to start serious business. Nobody expected that former singer and a war reporter will make a great director. But her first film "Blood Seller" put everything in its place. The story of the Saratov writer, who has been fighting for his life for many years, touched all viewers to the core. Cancer was a common problem, so the war with the death of Igor Alekseev resonated in the hearts of everyone who watched bright picture. the best award for the director was a TEFI figurine. The photo of Elena Pogrebizhskaya again appeared on the covers of magazines, but now she was already a celebrity in the world of cinema.
Another job that got the highest award from TV academics. A film about which helps the terminally ill broke records in prime time views. During the broadcast there was a charity company and people did not spare money for a good cause. The collected funds went to the fund of Dr. Lisa. But this was not enough for Elena, she wanted to help not only with words, but also with songs. On charity concert acted a large number of stars, and the first hospice was built with the money raised.
"Mom, I will kill you"
The most famous and high-profile project of Elena Pogrebizhskaya. The film about orphans shocked with its revelations. The shock from the viewing was not only among the ordinary population, but also at the top of power. Thanks to great job director, in State Duma finally carried out a reform of the legislation concerning orphans. The beginning of this was laid by the position of Deputy Prime Minister at that moment.
The woman was so impressed by what she saw that she ordered to sort out the situation immediately. This was the biggest victory for Elena. There is confidence that in the future she will shoot many more good pictures!
