00:00Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin facing off.
00:03With Europe caught in between.
00:06The US president striking at Christian values.
00:09In Dusseldorf, carnival floats don't just entertain.
00:12They take aim at those in power.
00:16These figures are the work of German sculptor Jacques Tilley.
00:21This year, his satire comes with real-world consequences.
00:25He's been accused in a Moscow court of defaming President Putin.
00:28What do carnival goers in Dusseldorf say?
00:32Satirists have free reign during carnival.
00:34Sometimes it's important to poke at a sore spot.
00:37Satire has power, and it should be used.
00:40Tilley has always pushed boundaries,
00:41and when people aren't allowed to laugh, then a country's in trouble.
00:45Tilley has shaped Germany's carnival for decades.
00:49His figures mock politicians, extremists, and powerful people.
00:54Russian authorities accuse him of discrediting the Russian army
00:57and spreading false information.
00:59Charges that could mean years in a Russian prison.
01:02Since he's in Germany, he'd only face arrest if he travels to countries
01:05with extradition agreements with Russia.
01:10Of course, we'll keep going.
01:12We can't let ourselves be intimidated.
01:14That's the whole point of this trial.
01:16To scare people.
01:17To silence them.
01:18To make them tone down their criticism.
01:21I can't give in to that.
01:23Absolutely not.
01:24That'd be absurd.
01:27Because this isn't just an attack on me.
01:31It's an attack on the freedom of all of us.
01:36Rose Monday parades and carnival strongholds like Germany's Rhineland
01:40mark the highlight of the season.
01:43The tradition dates to the 19th century,
01:45when carnival became a way to mock authorities.
01:49For a brief period, the so-called fool's freedom allowed satire
01:53to challenge those in power more openly than usual.
01:58That tradition of fool's freedom has survived.
02:01And carnival still matters today.
02:04For the past 10 or 15 years, we've seen growing pressure
02:07from authoritarian and even totalitarian world views, values,
02:11and narratives challenging our liberal democracy.
02:16That's why we need satire to stay sharp and strong.
02:20To push back against that pressure.
02:25The parade floats are built in Düsseldorf's Wagenbauhalle,
02:29the heart of the city's carnival.
02:32In the weeks leading up to Rose Monday,
02:34Jacques Tilley and his team worked under strict secrecy
02:37on the satirical motto floats.
02:39The ideas come from Tilley himself.
02:45What's great about carnival floats is that they turn a complex situation
02:49into one clear, simple image.
02:51You get it instantly.
02:52I look at what's dominating the current political debate.
02:54But I'm not creating work for just an educated elite.
02:57It speaks for everyone.
02:58So it needs simple images and instantly recognizable figures.
03:02Those are key ingredients for a strong float.
03:05Tilley targets political leaders across the globe.
03:09Putin has been a recurring figure.
03:11From portrayals of the close ties between the Kremlin and the Russian Orthodox Church
03:15to Russia's war in Ukraine.
03:19People like Trump and Putin are, you could say, job security for satirists and cartoonists.
03:24They offer endless material.
03:27Putin has been in power for more than a quarter of a century now.
03:30Everyone knows him.
03:32It's like the British royals.
03:33The Queen ruled for ages.
03:36And dictators tend to stay in power a long time because they don't play by democratic rules.
03:43The day after the parade, Tilley's team dismantles the floats.
03:48Meanwhile, the criminal case against their creator is moving forward.
03:51An unprecedented move as Russia is putting a German citizen on trial in absentia for artwork created in Germany.
03:59Since the charges were filed in December, the trial has been postponed several times.
04:08I haven't received a letter, a summons, an invitation, not even a phone call from my supposed court-appointed lawyer.
04:14Nothing at all.
04:16By now, I almost find the trial amusing.
04:19Putin is making himself look ridiculous, lashing out at papier-mâché figures with the full force of the courts and
04:24the state.
04:25It's hard to believe how he's embarrassing himself.
04:30He'd rather take a swing at the papier-mâché figures himself.
04:34Almost as striking an image as the works he creates.
04:38While Jacques Tilley's floats may be crushed to pieces after Rose Monday,
04:42the debate over artistic freedom and its limits continues.
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