Bard College Berlin is cohosting with Yorck Kinogruppe a public screening of The Master and Margarita, a successful adaptation of Mikhail Bulgakov's novel that faced intense scrutiny and attack when it was released in Russia last year. Duma deputies and pro-war Russian propagandists called for its ban and demanded criminal charges against Michael Lockshin, its Russian-American director, who staked out a clear anti-war position from the moment of Russia's invasion. The novel, as Lockshin’s film, is an open critique of authoritarianism, censorship, terror, and other means by which the state wields power over its citizens. Lockshin will be present at the screening and take part in a Q&A moderated by  Joshua Yaffa , the writer-in-residence at Bard College Berlin, and who has covered Russia for The New Yorker for many years. The film will be screened in Russian with English subtitles.