The premiere of the documentary series "Cherkizon. New Russia's Hell and Paradise"

On August 19, Okko released the NM Studio documentary project dedicated to the Cherkizovsky market and its creator, Telman Ismailov.

In the 1990s, Cherkizovsky, the largest market in Eastern Europe, appeared in Russia. Its scale was astounding, the work system remained out of sight of government agencies, and the impact on the economy was felt far beyond Moscow. This market entered the cultural code of the 90s and set the business rules of that time. There was one man behind the vast empire, entrepreneur Telman Ismailov.

The documentary series "Cherkizon. Hell and Paradise of New Russia" is a story about ups and downs, shot by NM Studio (News Media Holding video production) for Okko in three episodes: "Paradise", "Hell" and "Purgatory". The director of the project is Vadim Vatagin, art director of News Media Holding and documentary filmmaker.

The figure of Ismailov in the series is shown as complex and ambiguous. He was known as a generous man and philanthropist, he organized large-scale feasts, hosted show business stars and politicians. At the same time, everyone understood that this luxury had a downside. Ismailov's entire fortune was based on income from Cherkizon, a market where daily turnover was comparable to the federal budget. There were unspoken rules: "you can do anything if you pay where you need to."

Cherkizon operated as a separate state with its own laws and even law enforcement agencies. The private security organization AST, based on the first letters of the names of Ismailov and his sons, ensured "order", but only within the framework set by the tycoon's empire.

However, empires do not last forever. The change of power, the resignation of Yuri Luzhkov, political shuffling and the public's fatigue with "ostentatious wealth" were the beginning of the end. In 2009, the market was closed, inspections began, and Ismailov left the country. Later, he was declared bankrupt, and the network of assets — from the Prague restaurant to foreign hotels — was liquidated.

Vadim Vatagin, the author and director of the series, art director of News Media Holding, emphasizes: "Ismailov is a complex figure. He still knows how to be endearing to himself, and perhaps that's why there were such different people in his environment at different times. We wanted to understand where the myth is and where the truth is. To give the viewer the opportunity to see how everything was actually arranged. This is not an accusatory film or a glorification. This is an honest reconstruction of events based on materials and memories."

According to him, the series systematizes dozens of hours of interviews, archival materials and previously unpublished data. Some high—profile episodes have been revised: "For example, Mamontov's plot, which was considered canonical, turned out to be inaccurate - he did not shoot catacombs in Cherkizon. We checked and showed where there was a substitution of facts."

Okko documentary content producer Vladimir Todorov noted that the comparison in the series is metaphorical and reflects the situation in the country at that time: "For us, Cherkizon. The Hell and Paradise of New Russia" is a study of an absolutely unique era in the country's history ― a combination of glamorous splendor and poverty, an era when some rose quickly and high, while others remained at the social bottom and were forced to survive. Cherkizovsky market is a metaphorical reflection of the situation in which Russia found itself at the junction of the nineties and noughties: on the one hand, the luxury and wealth of Telman Ismailov, his friendship with the country's top officials and stars, and on the other, the poverty of Cherkizon's workers, and often slaves, who, in fact, allowed Ismailov to live. a beautiful, ostentatious life."