An anthropological study of a cargo cult in a fictitious self-marginalized commune, which existed next to the Moscow Ring Road - a highway that marks the boundaries of the Russian capital - and survived mainly on roadside trash. Although the road provided for their basic needs, the existence of the commune was extremely precarious and highly dependent on the roadway's fluctuations. This dependency led them to develop a cargo cult of the road.

Daniil Zinchenko
as Tribesman

Pavel Grozin
as Road worker

Alexander Evangely
as Anthropologist

Alexandra Obukhova
as Historian of religions

Arseny Zhilyaev
as Anthropologist

Oksana Sarkisyan
as Sociologist

Mikhail Maximov
as Tribesman

Varvara Gevorgizova
as Tribeswoman

Tanya Lazareva
as Tribeswoman, mother of two

Anton Nikolaev
as Pizdariki (Voice)
Dimitri_Venkov
Dimitri Venkov in conversation with Alexandra MacGilp for Cannibal Manifest exhibition catalogue AM: What inspired The Mad Mimes and how did it develop while you were making it? DV: One of the lasting impressions of my formative years was a discovery of Jean Rouch’s ethno-fictions. Th...