This week: a round-up of Russian cultural news

Russian director Vladimir Bek wins best film award at Siberia’s Movement film festival; the proletariat conductorless orchestra Persimfans sees a contemporary revival in Moscow; and Russian happiness is at a 25-year high. A quick look at this week’s top cultural stories from Russia.

Moscow’s Department of Culture opens an online portal with lists of activities, events and websites for Muscovites.

Russian happiness is at a 25-year high according to a recent Happiness Index survey, which saw 78 percent of respondents tell pollsters that they are content about their lives - the highest figure in 25 years.

St Petersburg human rights film festival announced that the Pussy Riot documentary film Pussy Riot - A Punk Prayer will headline at its festival starting next week.

Founder of social network site VK, Pavel Durov, gains citizenship in the Caribbean island of St Kitts and Nevis after fleeing Russia claiming persecution.

The conductorless orchestra ‘Persimfans’, established as a proletariat ensemble in the early 20th century, sees a contemporary revival, performing experimental music and ‘absurdist’ rock in Moscow this week.

New York authorities have started discussions about renaming a street in Queens, New York in honour of Soviet journalist and writer Sergei Dovlatov, after an appeal was launched last December to rename the street which was home to the writer from 1979 until his death in 1990.

Moscow’s Mayor announces the construction of a new metro station, named Butyrskaya, set to open in 2015.

And…Winner of Siberian film festival Movement was announced, with young director and film student Vladimir Bek taking the award for best film for his feature Skinless (Bez kozhi).