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A collaboration between 16 community radios, a large physical gathering of community radios in continental Europe.

Hedgehog Cakes: Sweet Weapon of Terror

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Silent Green Betonhalle/Cinema

Screening
poster cakes 20ft.png

This film reveals the dark history of totalitarian repressions during the late 1930s, focusing on a peculiar artifact: hedgehog cakes. Named after the notorious Soviet people's commissar Nikolai Yezhov (with "yezh" meaning "hedgehog" in Russian), these seemingly innocent desserts became a spooky symbol of terror. According to speculative theories, hedgehog cakes were not just treats but served as secret signals of inescapable danger, marking recipients for possible exile to Siberian camps or even death.

Credits:

Zhenia Stepanenko (director)

Vitalii Nemchenko (coordinator)

Bondariev Mykhailo (operator)

Artists

Zhenia Stepanenko

Zhenia Stepanenko (b. 1996) is a visual artist from Ukraine, Kyiv, a graduate of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and Kyiv Academy of Media Arts.

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Hosts

20ft Radio

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