According to an announcement made by the Russian prison service on Friday, prominent Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny has died while in custody. Navalny’s demise comes amidst President Vladimir Putin‘s consolidation of power and ahead of an upcoming election in March.
The 47-year-old activist had been engaged in a protracted battle against official corruption and the government of Putin and survived multiple poisoning attempts. Navalny was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent while on a business trip in Russia in 2020 and firmly held Putin responsible for the assassination attempt. He spent his final years incarcerated as the Russian leader reshaped the nation to rally support for his military campaign in Ukraine. News of Navalny’s death coincides with the Kremlin’s preparations to orchestrate another electoral victory for Putin, which has intensified international scrutiny.
Russia’s Federal Prison Service’s statement read, “On February 16, 2024, in penal colony No.
The 47-year-old activist had been engaged in a protracted battle against official corruption and the government of Putin and survived multiple poisoning attempts. Navalny was poisoned with a military-grade nerve agent while on a business trip in Russia in 2020 and firmly held Putin responsible for the assassination attempt. He spent his final years incarcerated as the Russian leader reshaped the nation to rally support for his military campaign in Ukraine. News of Navalny’s death coincides with the Kremlin’s preparations to orchestrate another electoral victory for Putin, which has intensified international scrutiny.
Russia’s Federal Prison Service’s statement read, “On February 16, 2024, in penal colony No.
- 2/16/2024
- by Baila Eve Zisman
- Uinterview
In his latest documentary “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon,” Alex Gibney explores the singer-songwriter’s six-decade career. The Oscar winning director also captures Simon creating his latest album, “Seven Psalms,” which he made while losing hearing in his left ear. Although Gibney is mostly recognized for his rigorously researched investigative exposes, he is also skilled in creating portraits of cultural icons like Simon. In the 209-minute docu Gibney relies on Simon as well as signifigant figures in his life including wife Edie Brickell, Lorne Michaels and Art Garfunkel, who can be heard via archival footage, to tell his story.
In 2019 Gibney premiered his Mikhail Khodorkovsky documentary “Citizen K” at TIFF. “In Restless Dreams” will debut at TIFF on Sept. 10. Gibney is seeking distribution for the film.
Did you have final cut on this docu?
Yes. That was the arrangement we made going into it. I felt good about that.
In 2019 Gibney premiered his Mikhail Khodorkovsky documentary “Citizen K” at TIFF. “In Restless Dreams” will debut at TIFF on Sept. 10. Gibney is seeking distribution for the film.
Did you have final cut on this docu?
Yes. That was the arrangement we made going into it. I felt good about that.
- 9/9/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
With an Academy Award under his belt and a production company that routinely works with top distributors, Alex Gibney is one of the privileged few name brands in documentary film. After helming a long list of films and series focused on corporate and institutional malfeasance and public figures’ moral ambiguities (The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Taxi to the Dark Side), Gibney’s credit has come to typify documentary’s capacity for rigorous investigative work.
Still, the director and his company, Jigsaw Productions, aren’t immune to the ups and downs of today’s corporate entertainment landscape. Even as streamers continue to fuel audience and buyer interest in docs, industry titans are consolidating and cost-cutting as Wall Street grows more bearish on streaming and a potential recession lingers on the horizon. “There’s simply fewer buyers.
With an Academy Award under his belt and a production company that routinely works with top distributors, Alex Gibney is one of the privileged few name brands in documentary film. After helming a long list of films and series focused on corporate and institutional malfeasance and public figures’ moral ambiguities (The Trials of Henry Kissinger, Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Taxi to the Dark Side), Gibney’s credit has come to typify documentary’s capacity for rigorous investigative work.
Still, the director and his company, Jigsaw Productions, aren’t immune to the ups and downs of today’s corporate entertainment landscape. Even as streamers continue to fuel audience and buyer interest in docs, industry titans are consolidating and cost-cutting as Wall Street grows more bearish on streaming and a potential recession lingers on the horizon. “There’s simply fewer buyers.
- 11/12/2022
- by Katie Kilkenny
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar winning writer/director Alex Gibney’s revelatory Citizen K is an intimate yet sweeping look at post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of the enigmatic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch turned political dissident. Benefitting from the chaos that ensued after the dissolution of the U.S.S.R., Khodorkovsky was able to amass a fortune in financing and oil production and became the richest man in Russia. But when he accused the new Putin regime of corruption, Khodorkovsky was arrested, his assets were seized and following a series of show trials, he was sentenced to more than ten-years in prison. Today, as an exile living in London, he continues to speak out against Putin’s two-decade stranglehold on power. Expertly researched and photographed, Gibney uses Khodorkovsky’s story as a way to explore the complex interplay between oligarchy and government and its destructive effect on democracy, in Russia and beyond.
- 2/3/2020
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When the collective republics of the Soviet Union began their conscious uncoupling in the early 1990s, many Russians saw the collapse as a bold new step toward freedom and democracy. Mikhail Khodorkovsky saw cash. The future billionaire had grown up with dreams of being an engineer — he lived on the corner of Cosmonaut Street and Rocket Boulevard, and confessed that “all my life, I’ve been interested in things that explode” — and was a card-carrying member of the Communist youth league Komsomol. Then, in the Perestroika era, he found a...
- 1/15/2020
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Yes, we know: January has a reputation for being a dumping ground for films that smell a little iffy from a distance — witness this year’s Jan. titles Dolittle and Like a Boss. But it’s also the month when most of the world gets a first look at prestige films that previously only played in big cities (see: Les Miserables, the cop procedural that’s France’s Oscar submission for Best Foreign-Language Film), some intriguing stuff from the indie-movie sector (The Assistant, Color Out of Space) and a few...
- 1/7/2020
- by Keith Phipps
- Rollingstone.com
Periscoop Film has taken Beleux rights to For Sama, White Riot, Citizen K and Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band.
Dutch art house distributor Periscoop Film has taken Benelux rights to four high-profile new feature documentaries, all of which are screening at Idfa this week.
They are: For Sama, from Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts; Rubika Shah’s debut feature White Riot which won the Grierson Award for best documentary earlier this year; Alex Gibney’s Citizen K, about the rise and fall of Mikhail Khodorkovsky; and Daniel Roher’s music documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band...
Dutch art house distributor Periscoop Film has taken Benelux rights to four high-profile new feature documentaries, all of which are screening at Idfa this week.
They are: For Sama, from Waad al-Kateab and Edward Watts; Rubika Shah’s debut feature White Riot which won the Grierson Award for best documentary earlier this year; Alex Gibney’s Citizen K, about the rise and fall of Mikhail Khodorkovsky; and Daniel Roher’s music documentary Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson And The Band...
- 11/26/2019
- by 57¦Geoffrey Macnab¦41¦
- ScreenDaily
“I am far from an ideal person,” Russian oligarch-turned-political-prisoner-turned-political-activist Mikhail Khodorkovsky says in “Citizen K.” “But I am a person with ideals.”
It’s the second half of that statement about which documentarian Alex Gibney is most concerned. The Oscar-winning director of “Taxi to the Dark Side” and “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” has pointed his camera at Khodorkovsky not to paint a nuanced picture of an impossibly rich and complicated man (as the allusion to “Citizen Kane” suggests) but to tell the bizarre story of how the rise of Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly turned Khodorkovsky into a heroic arch-nemesis.
And like many stories of heroes and villains, the good guy isn’t questioned very much, while the bad guy steals the show.
Also Read: Steven Spielberg and Alex Gibney's Docuseries 'Why We Hate' Gets Premiere Date From Discovery (Exclusive)
“Citizen K” spends its first half...
It’s the second half of that statement about which documentarian Alex Gibney is most concerned. The Oscar-winning director of “Taxi to the Dark Side” and “Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief” has pointed his camera at Khodorkovsky not to paint a nuanced picture of an impossibly rich and complicated man (as the allusion to “Citizen Kane” suggests) but to tell the bizarre story of how the rise of Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly turned Khodorkovsky into a heroic arch-nemesis.
And like many stories of heroes and villains, the good guy isn’t questioned very much, while the bad guy steals the show.
Also Read: Steven Spielberg and Alex Gibney's Docuseries 'Why We Hate' Gets Premiere Date From Discovery (Exclusive)
“Citizen K” spends its first half...
- 11/22/2019
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
Focus Features is looking to flood the specialty box office with their latest title Dark Waters from director Todd Haynes. The film, which stars Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway, is based on a true story about attorney Rob Bilott (Ruffalo) who uncovers a dark secret that connects a growing number of unexplained deaths to one of the world’s largest corporations.
Dubbed a legal thriller, the film written by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan, uses Nathaniel Rich’s 2016 New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” as a jumping-off point to tell the story about Bilott, who risks everything in his life to expose the truth about the contaminated water supply and the big company that is responsible — something that is still affecting the community today.
“It’s about what’s going on in the world and humanity in general — what people know and...
Dubbed a legal thriller, the film written by Mario Correa and Matthew Michael Carnahan, uses Nathaniel Rich’s 2016 New York Times Magazine article “The Lawyer Who Became DuPont’s Worst Nightmare” as a jumping-off point to tell the story about Bilott, who risks everything in his life to expose the truth about the contaminated water supply and the big company that is responsible — something that is still affecting the community today.
“It’s about what’s going on in the world and humanity in general — what people know and...
- 11/22/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
“I am far from an ideal person, but I’m a person with ideals.” Say what you will about exiled businessman Mikhail Khodorkovsky — formerly one of the seven oligarchs who controlled 50% of the money in post-Soviet Russia, and now an enemy of the state who Putin would personally throw into prison for the rest of his life should he ever touch foot on home soil again — but the guy is more self-aware than most of the bastards who have shaped the modern world.
That alone would make him a natural subject for a documentary about the current state of his birth country, but Alex Gibney’s “Citizen K” is only tangentially concerned with what makes Khodorkovsky tick. Gibney is more interested in using the billionaire pariah as a pinhole into the guts of gangster capitalism; as a lens through which to consider that capitalism and democracy might be theologically incompatible.
That alone would make him a natural subject for a documentary about the current state of his birth country, but Alex Gibney’s “Citizen K” is only tangentially concerned with what makes Khodorkovsky tick. Gibney is more interested in using the billionaire pariah as a pinhole into the guts of gangster capitalism; as a lens through which to consider that capitalism and democracy might be theologically incompatible.
- 11/20/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
This year has brought more evidence to cement Alex Gibney’s reputation as the hardest working man in documentary film.
His six-part documentary series Why We Hate, executive-produced with Steven Spielberg, debuted on Discovery Channel last month. Earlier this year his documentary The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley—about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes—hit HBO. And his latest documentary, Citizen K, opens in theaters this Friday. All in all, an active 2019.
Citizen K tells the story of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a “Russian oligarch-turned dissident,” who built a vast fortune in the years of “Wild West capitalism” that flourished after the Soviet Union’s collapse. Some estimates put his net worth at its height at $15 billion.
“He became Russia’s richest man,” Gibney notes, “one of the richest men in the world.” Khodorkovsky collected his first pile of rubles in the banking business, then leveraged that wealth to acquire ever more valuable enterprises.
His six-part documentary series Why We Hate, executive-produced with Steven Spielberg, debuted on Discovery Channel last month. Earlier this year his documentary The Inventor: Out For Blood in Silicon Valley—about disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes—hit HBO. And his latest documentary, Citizen K, opens in theaters this Friday. All in all, an active 2019.
Citizen K tells the story of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a “Russian oligarch-turned dissident,” who built a vast fortune in the years of “Wild West capitalism” that flourished after the Soviet Union’s collapse. Some estimates put his net worth at its height at $15 billion.
“He became Russia’s richest man,” Gibney notes, “one of the richest men in the world.” Khodorkovsky collected his first pile of rubles in the banking business, then leveraged that wealth to acquire ever more valuable enterprises.
- 11/18/2019
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker of Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Alex Gibney has a body of work that could scare off potential collaborators by not shying away from the truth.
But he explains to The Hollywood Reporter’s Documentary Roundtable how he earned the trust of his latest subject, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics, in his film Citizen K.
"Weirdly the subject of my film, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saw Enron," he said. "He sort of enjoyed it. It was kind of brash, but I think also he had ...
But he explains to The Hollywood Reporter’s Documentary Roundtable how he earned the trust of his latest subject, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics, in his film Citizen K.
"Weirdly the subject of my film, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saw Enron," he said. "He sort of enjoyed it. It was kind of brash, but I think also he had ...
- 11/8/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker of Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room Alex Gibney has a body of work that could scare off potential collaborators by not shying away from the truth.
But he explains to The Hollywood Reporter’s Documentary Roundtable how he earned the trust of his latest subject, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics, in his film Citizen K.
"Weirdly the subject of my film, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saw Enron," he said. "He sort of enjoyed it. It was kind of brash, but I think also he had ...
But he explains to The Hollywood Reporter’s Documentary Roundtable how he earned the trust of his latest subject, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of Russian President Vladimir Putin's most vocal critics, in his film Citizen K.
"Weirdly the subject of my film, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saw Enron," he said. "He sort of enjoyed it. It was kind of brash, but I think also he had ...
- 11/8/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
"What you don't control is a potential threat." Greenwich Entertainment has unveiled an official trailer for the new Alex Gibney documentary titled Citizen K, which first premiered at the Venice Film Festival earlier this year and it also played at Tiff. Citizen K is a reference to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a Russian citizen who now lives in London after being put in jail as an outspoken opponent of Putin. He only got out because he's a billionaire. The film tells the complete story of the strange case of Khodorkovsky, once believed to be the wealthiest man in Russia, who rocketed to prosperity and prominence in the 1990s, served a decade in prison, and became an unlikely martyr for the anti-Putin movement. Expertly researched, Alex Gibney uses Khodorkovsky’s story as a way to explore the complex interplay between oligarchy and government and its destructive effect on democracy, in Russia and beyond.
- 10/29/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Alex Gibney’s “Citizen K” is a devastating portrait of corruption in Vladimir Putin’s Russia that seems to grow ever more timely. It follows Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch and ally of Putin who became an unlikely political dissident, risking everything to blow the whistle on the threat the Russian leader poses to democracy.
“After 2016, I became interested in Russia,” Gibney told Variety. “It seemed like a country we hadn’t paid enough attention to. I set out to find out how power works at the top in Russia and at the bottom, and came across Mikhail, who was sort of a dissident in exile.”
Khodorkovsky was once among the richest men in Russia and in the world. He became an oil baron during the country’s privatization in the 1990s as it turned its back on communism and towards kleptocracy. However, he ultimately ran afoul of Putin, spending...
“After 2016, I became interested in Russia,” Gibney told Variety. “It seemed like a country we hadn’t paid enough attention to. I set out to find out how power works at the top in Russia and at the bottom, and came across Mikhail, who was sort of a dissident in exile.”
Khodorkovsky was once among the richest men in Russia and in the world. He became an oil baron during the country’s privatization in the 1990s as it turned its back on communism and towards kleptocracy. However, he ultimately ran afoul of Putin, spending...
- 10/28/2019
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Terrence Malick's historical drama A Hidden Life and Alex Gibney's Citizen K have been added to the AFI Fest 2019 lineup as the American Film Institute on Tuesday unveiled its world cinema and documentary sidebar offerings for the November event.
Malick's latest film, which bowed at Cannes, tells the true story of Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II, while Gibney's Citizen K traces the rise and fall of oligarch-turned-dissident exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a portrait of Putin's Russia.
The two films join the previously announced festival opener Queen & Slim, a crime thriller ...
Malick's latest film, which bowed at Cannes, tells the true story of Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II, while Gibney's Citizen K traces the rise and fall of oligarch-turned-dissident exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a portrait of Putin's Russia.
The two films join the previously announced festival opener Queen & Slim, a crime thriller ...
- 10/15/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Terrence Malick's historical drama A Hidden Life and Alex Gibney's Citizen K have been added to the AFI Fest 2019 lineup as the American Film Institute on Tuesday unveiled its world cinema and documentary sidebar offerings for the November event.
Malick's latest film, which bowed at Cannes, tells the true story of Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II, while Gibney's Citizen K traces the rise and fall of oligarch-turned-dissident exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a portrait of Putin's Russia.
The two films join the previously announced festival opener Queen & Slim, a crime thriller ...
Malick's latest film, which bowed at Cannes, tells the true story of Franz Jagerstatter, an Austrian conscientious objector during World War II, while Gibney's Citizen K traces the rise and fall of oligarch-turned-dissident exile Mikhail Khodorkovsky in a portrait of Putin's Russia.
The two films join the previously announced festival opener Queen & Slim, a crime thriller ...
- 10/15/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Alex Gibney’s absorbing new documentary about Mikhail Khodorkovsky charts the Russian businessman’s transformation from plutocrat to political dissident
If Vladimir Putin is the enigmatic Mr Hyde of 21st-century Russia, then Mikhail Khodorkovsky is its Dr Jekyll. He’s an oligarch, a plutocrat, a political player and a contemporary of Putin who nonetheless seems to be the good guy. He appears entirely sincere in his commitment to democratic reforms in Russia and seems to float free of the glowering gangster code of omertà that governs all those who enriched themselves at Putin’s tsarist court. Khodorkovsky first became wealthy as the proprietor of Russia’s first private bank in the Yeltsin 90s. Then he participated in the country’s privatisation scam, whereby impoverished Russian citizens were forced to sell their valuable share certificates to Khodorkovsky and his ilk for a song; Khodorkovsky and others finally loaned money to the...
If Vladimir Putin is the enigmatic Mr Hyde of 21st-century Russia, then Mikhail Khodorkovsky is its Dr Jekyll. He’s an oligarch, a plutocrat, a political player and a contemporary of Putin who nonetheless seems to be the good guy. He appears entirely sincere in his commitment to democratic reforms in Russia and seems to float free of the glowering gangster code of omertà that governs all those who enriched themselves at Putin’s tsarist court. Khodorkovsky first became wealthy as the proprietor of Russia’s first private bank in the Yeltsin 90s. Then he participated in the country’s privatisation scam, whereby impoverished Russian citizens were forced to sell their valuable share certificates to Khodorkovsky and his ilk for a song; Khodorkovsky and others finally loaned money to the...
- 10/3/2019
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
The film will play at the London Film Festival this week.
Ireland’s Wildcard Distribution has acquired the UK and Irish rights to Alex Gibney’s latest documentary Citizen K, in advance of its screening at the London Film Festival.
Wildcard, which handled the theatrical release of Gibney’s No Stone Unturned last year, acquired the rights from Kew Media and is set to release the film in Irish and UK cinemas in December.
In the Us, the feature, which was financed by Amazon, will be released in Los Angeles in late November by Greenwich Entertainment, effectively placing it in...
Ireland’s Wildcard Distribution has acquired the UK and Irish rights to Alex Gibney’s latest documentary Citizen K, in advance of its screening at the London Film Festival.
Wildcard, which handled the theatrical release of Gibney’s No Stone Unturned last year, acquired the rights from Kew Media and is set to release the film in Irish and UK cinemas in December.
In the Us, the feature, which was financed by Amazon, will be released in Los Angeles in late November by Greenwich Entertainment, effectively placing it in...
- 10/2/2019
- by 1100995¦Esther McCarthy¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Prolific doc maker Alex Gibney returns this year with “Citizen K,” a portrait of Putin’s Russia that Greenwich Entertainment will release in Los Angeles on November 22. Financed by Amazon, the film will later hit streaming via Prime Video. Greenwich last year handled the theatrical distribution of National Geographic’s “Free Solo,” which went on to win the Best Documentary Feature Academy Award, and grossed nearly $18 million at the U.S. box office — impressive numbers for a doc.
“Citizen K” takes a look at post-Soviet Russia through the eyes of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a onetime oligarch turned political dissident, and unlikely martyr for the anti-Trump movement. Amid the shakeout of the U.S.S.R.’s dissolution, Khodorkovsky made bank working in finance and in oil production, becoming the richest man in Russia. However, when he accused Putin’s regime of corruption, he was arrested, followed by seizure of his assets and humiliation throughout a series of show trials.
“Citizen K” takes a look at post-Soviet Russia through the eyes of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a onetime oligarch turned political dissident, and unlikely martyr for the anti-Trump movement. Amid the shakeout of the U.S.S.R.’s dissolution, Khodorkovsky made bank working in finance and in oil production, becoming the richest man in Russia. However, when he accused Putin’s regime of corruption, he was arrested, followed by seizure of his assets and humiliation throughout a series of show trials.
- 9/30/2019
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Greenwich Entertainment has set a release date for Alex Gibney’s critically acclaimed documentary Citizen K, which will put it in the running for this year’s Oscar race. The feature will be released in Los Angeles on November 22 and will expand to other cities in early 2020. Following the North American theatrical release, it will be available worldwide on Amazon Prime.
As described in its official logline, Citizen K is “an intimate yet sweeping look at post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of the enigmatic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch turned political dissident. Benefitting from the chaos that followed the dissolution of the U.S.S.R., Khodorkovsky was able to amass a fortune in financing and oil production and became the richest man in Russia. However, when he accused the new Putin regime of corruption, Khodorkovsky was arrested, his assets seized and following a series of show trials, sentenced to...
As described in its official logline, Citizen K is “an intimate yet sweeping look at post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of the enigmatic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former oligarch turned political dissident. Benefitting from the chaos that followed the dissolution of the U.S.S.R., Khodorkovsky was able to amass a fortune in financing and oil production and became the richest man in Russia. However, when he accused the new Putin regime of corruption, Khodorkovsky was arrested, his assets seized and following a series of show trials, sentenced to...
- 9/30/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Citizen K, Academy Award-winning director Alex Gibney's acclaimed new documentary feature about post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of oligarch-turned-political dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has been acquired for North American distribution by Greenwich Entertainment and will receive a theatrical release alongside a concerted Oscar push this season, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Greenwich previously handled the theatrical release for National Geographic's Free Solo, which went on to win this year's best documentary feature Oscar. Greenwich's Ed Arentz tells THR that Gibney is "one of our best chroniclers of power and its many abuses," and calls Citizen K, which was produced by Gibney, John ...
Greenwich previously handled the theatrical release for National Geographic's Free Solo, which went on to win this year's best documentary feature Oscar. Greenwich's Ed Arentz tells THR that Gibney is "one of our best chroniclers of power and its many abuses," and calls Citizen K, which was produced by Gibney, John ...
- 9/30/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Citizen K, Oscar winner Alex Gibney's acclaimed new documentary feature about post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of oligarch-turned-political dissident Mikhail Khodorkovsky, has been acquired for North American distribution by Greenwich Entertainment and will receive a theatrical release alongside a concerted Oscar push this season, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Greenwich previously handled the theatrical release for National Geographic's Free Solo, which went on to win this year's best documentary feature Oscar. Greenwich's Ed Arentz tells THR that Gibney is "one of our best chroniclers of power and its many abuses," and calls Citizen K, which was produced by Gibney, John Battsek, P....
Greenwich previously handled the theatrical release for National Geographic's Free Solo, which went on to win this year's best documentary feature Oscar. Greenwich's Ed Arentz tells THR that Gibney is "one of our best chroniclers of power and its many abuses," and calls Citizen K, which was produced by Gibney, John Battsek, P....
- 9/30/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Ukrainian director was part of a Russia-Ukraine prisoner exchange, it was confimed.
Leading European and Ukrainian film figures have responded to the news confirmed today (Sept 7) that Oleg Sentsov, the Ukrainian filmmaker arrested by Russia in 2014 and accused of plotting terrorist acts, is finally back on Ukrainian soil, freed as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
“We – the film community – feel extremely happy and relieved. European Film Academy was fighting for Oleg’s freedom from the very beginning. Now, we have to help our friend to catch up, to live, to create, to express himself. I...
Leading European and Ukrainian film figures have responded to the news confirmed today (Sept 7) that Oleg Sentsov, the Ukrainian filmmaker arrested by Russia in 2014 and accused of plotting terrorist acts, is finally back on Ukrainian soil, freed as part of a prisoner exchange between Russia and Ukraine.
“We – the film community – feel extremely happy and relieved. European Film Academy was fighting for Oleg’s freedom from the very beginning. Now, we have to help our friend to catch up, to live, to create, to express himself. I...
- 9/7/2019
- by Geoffrey Macnab
- ScreenDaily
Fueled by streamers and strong B.O. on high-profile titles, the documentary genre has exploded, and Toronto Intl. Film Festival documentary programmer Thom Powers sifted through 850 possibilities before determining this year’s non-fiction lineup. While these 25 films vary widely, “politics is going to be ever-present in this section,” Powers says.
Last year, filmmakers including Michael Moore, Alexis Bloom and Errol Morris explored American politics and the people behind President Donald Trump’s rise. But the 2016 election is nowhere in site at this year’s fest. Instead, veteran doc filmmakers Alex Gibney and Lauren Greenfield as well as first time non-fiction helmer Garin Hovannisian are examining politics in foreign lands, and issues such as election manipulation, corruption, fake news and fragile democracies.
Gibney’s “Citizen K” looks at post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oligarch turned political dissident, while Greenfield’s “The Kingmaker” (Showtime) aims its lens at...
Last year, filmmakers including Michael Moore, Alexis Bloom and Errol Morris explored American politics and the people behind President Donald Trump’s rise. But the 2016 election is nowhere in site at this year’s fest. Instead, veteran doc filmmakers Alex Gibney and Lauren Greenfield as well as first time non-fiction helmer Garin Hovannisian are examining politics in foreign lands, and issues such as election manipulation, corruption, fake news and fragile democracies.
Gibney’s “Citizen K” looks at post-Soviet Russia from the perspective of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, an oligarch turned political dissident, while Greenfield’s “The Kingmaker” (Showtime) aims its lens at...
- 9/4/2019
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
“Bad Education”
Perhaps one of the biggest titles for sale, “Bad Education” stars Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano and Alex Wolff and is based on the real-life events that took place at writer Mike Makowsky’s high school.
“Citizen K”
Following his critically lauded “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” Alex Gibney is back with “Citizen K,” a documentary about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who went from communist to political prisoner in a 20-year battle with Putin.
“The Friend”
Based on the award-winning Esquire article of the same name, the film follows a man (Jason Segel) who puts his life on hold to help his friends though a terminal cancer diagnosis. Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck also star in the Gabriela Cowperthwaite (“Blackfish”) film.
“How to Build a Girl”
Everyone is obsessed with Beanie Feldstein following her performance in “Booksmart,” so naturally, this film has become a buzzy title for Tiff buyers.
Perhaps one of the biggest titles for sale, “Bad Education” stars Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano and Alex Wolff and is based on the real-life events that took place at writer Mike Makowsky’s high school.
“Citizen K”
Following his critically lauded “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” Alex Gibney is back with “Citizen K,” a documentary about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who went from communist to political prisoner in a 20-year battle with Putin.
“The Friend”
Based on the award-winning Esquire article of the same name, the film follows a man (Jason Segel) who puts his life on hold to help his friends though a terminal cancer diagnosis. Dakota Johnson and Casey Affleck also star in the Gabriela Cowperthwaite (“Blackfish”) film.
“How to Build a Girl”
Everyone is obsessed with Beanie Feldstein following her performance in “Booksmart,” so naturally, this film has become a buzzy title for Tiff buyers.
- 9/3/2019
- by Beatrice Verhoeven and Brian Welk
- The Wrap
For Alex Gibney, looking at Russia is a way of understanding America.
The Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, of Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, has brought his latest feature doc, Citizen K, to Venice, where it premiered this weekend.
The film races the rise and fall of dissident exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky as a window into post-Soviet Russia's rapid and violent transition from Communism to a free-market economy to what Khodorkovsky calls a “mafia state” under the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the richest men in Russia, Khodorkovsky spent a decade in ...
The Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, of Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, has brought his latest feature doc, Citizen K, to Venice, where it premiered this weekend.
The film races the rise and fall of dissident exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky as a window into post-Soviet Russia's rapid and violent transition from Communism to a free-market economy to what Khodorkovsky calls a “mafia state” under the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the richest men in Russia, Khodorkovsky spent a decade in ...
For Alex Gibney, looking at Russia is a way of understanding America.
The Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, of Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, has brought his latest feature doc, Citizen K, to Venice, where it premiered this weekend.
The film races the rise and fall of dissident exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky as a window into post-Soviet Russia's rapid and violent transition from Communism to a free-market economy to what Khodorkovsky calls a “mafia state” under the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the richest men in Russia, Khodorkovsky spent a decade in ...
The Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, of Taxi to the Dark Side and Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, has brought his latest feature doc, Citizen K, to Venice, where it premiered this weekend.
The film races the rise and fall of dissident exiled oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky as a window into post-Soviet Russia's rapid and violent transition from Communism to a free-market economy to what Khodorkovsky calls a “mafia state” under the rule of Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of the richest men in Russia, Khodorkovsky spent a decade in ...
“He wants to be Jesus Christ, but he has a past.” So says one political commentator about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the mercurial political activist under scrutiny in “Citizen K,” and if the remark seems blandly unfair on the face of it — who doesn’t have a past? — it’s hard to imagine Jesus himself gaining much moral authority with this particular background. A self-made billionaire and former oil oligarch who at one point could claim to be the wealthiest man in Russia, he was liberalized by a ten-year spell in prison under the Putin regime, emerging as a power-challenging dissident, and founding the pro-democracy initiative Open Russia. Khodorkovsky’s is a political about-face that feels almost too good, too neat, to be true: In Alex Gibney’s chewy, engrossing documentary, it’s a reversal that unlocks many of the conflicts and contradictions ailing post-Soviet Russia’s capitalist democracy.
Authoritative and dense...
Authoritative and dense...
- 8/31/2019
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
With typically zealous journalistic diligence, prolific nonfiction filmmaker Alex Gibney digs into the curious case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Citizen K, providing a lucidly accessible account of post-Soviet Russia's lurching transition out of Communism into a free-market economy that became a Wild West of gangster capitalism. The short hop from there to the faux democracy of Vladimir Putin, with his flimsy "election theater" and his 18-year stranglehold on the Kremlin, is a chilling cautionary tale. And although only glancing references are made to the Mueller investigation and Russia's U.S. election manipulation, anyone aware of Donald Trump's ...
- 8/31/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With typically zealous journalistic diligence, prolific nonfiction filmmaker Alex Gibney digs into the curious case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky in Citizen K, providing a lucidly accessible account of post-Soviet Russia's lurching transition out of Communism into a free-market economy that became a Wild West of gangster capitalism. The short hop from there to the faux democracy of Vladimir Putin, with his flimsy "election theater" and his 18-year stranglehold on the Kremlin, is a chilling cautionary tale. And although only glancing references are made to the Mueller investigation and Russia's U.S. election manipulation, anyone aware of Donald Trump's ...
- 8/31/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
‘The Australian Dream.’
Daniel Gordon’s The Australian Dream and Ben Lawrence’s Hearts and Bones will have their international premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In addition, Eva Orner’s Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator will be among 25 titles in the Tiff Docs section, along with The Australian Dream.
Good Thing Productions and Passion Pictures’ The Australian Dream opened the Melbourne International Film Festival. Written by Stan Grant, the film looks at race, identity and belonging from the perspective of former Sydney Swans captain and Indigenous rights activist Adam Goodes.
In 2013 Goodes sparked a national conversation about racism after requesting a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter be removed from the ground after calling him an “ape.”
Madman Entertainment will launch the film on 100—plus screens on August 22.
Lawrence’s debut feature Hearts and Bones, which had its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival, will screen in the Discovery program.
Produced...
Daniel Gordon’s The Australian Dream and Ben Lawrence’s Hearts and Bones will have their international premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival.
In addition, Eva Orner’s Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator will be among 25 titles in the Tiff Docs section, along with The Australian Dream.
Good Thing Productions and Passion Pictures’ The Australian Dream opened the Melbourne International Film Festival. Written by Stan Grant, the film looks at race, identity and belonging from the perspective of former Sydney Swans captain and Indigenous rights activist Adam Goodes.
In 2013 Goodes sparked a national conversation about racism after requesting a 13-year-old Collingwood supporter be removed from the ground after calling him an “ape.”
Madman Entertainment will launch the film on 100—plus screens on August 22.
Lawrence’s debut feature Hearts and Bones, which had its world premiere at the Sydney Film Festival, will screen in the Discovery program.
Produced...
- 8/8/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Last fall, documentary essayist Mark Cousins unveiled an ambitious new project: “Women Make Film: A New Road Movie Through Film,” which presents an alternative approach to film history exclusively through movies directed by women. The four hours presented at Tiff 2018 boasted a Tilda Swinton voiceover and the searing assertion that “film history is sexist.”
Now, Cousins has completed the project, and Tiff is giving it a lot of space: The entire 14 hours of “Women Make Film” will screen at the festival in five separate installments. “I think that the film is going to rewrite film history and how we understand the role of women directors,” Tiff Docs programmer Thom Powers said.
The previous installments screened quietly at the festival because “Mark was low key about it as he finished it,” Powers said. He wasn’t concerned about how moviegoers would make time for the finished product in the midst of a hectic festival schedule.
Now, Cousins has completed the project, and Tiff is giving it a lot of space: The entire 14 hours of “Women Make Film” will screen at the festival in five separate installments. “I think that the film is going to rewrite film history and how we understand the role of women directors,” Tiff Docs programmer Thom Powers said.
The previous installments screened quietly at the festival because “Mark was low key about it as he finished it,” Powers said. He wasn’t concerned about how moviegoers would make time for the finished product in the midst of a hectic festival schedule.
- 8/8/2019
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
The Toronto Film Festival has revealed this year’s lineups for its documentary, Midnight Madness, Discovery and retro Cinematheque sections, adding movies from Alex Gibney, Barbara Kopple, Bryce Dallas Howard, Richard Stanley and Ali LeRoi to the 2019 fest that kicks off next month.
Tiff Docs’ 25 pics kicks off with the world premiere of Feras Fayyad’s The Cave, about an underground hospital led by a female doctor in war-torn Syria. Also in the mix is Kopple’s Desert One, chronicling a perilous mission to rescue hostages in Iran, and Gibney’s Citizen K, profiling the Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Meanwhile, the genre lineup of Midnight Madness includes Richard Stanley’s H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out of Space, which stars Nicolas Cage and brings the director back to the section after 29 years, and Takashi Miike’s Japanese action-comedy First Love.
The Discovery section will open with Chiara Malta’s Simple Women,...
Tiff Docs’ 25 pics kicks off with the world premiere of Feras Fayyad’s The Cave, about an underground hospital led by a female doctor in war-torn Syria. Also in the mix is Kopple’s Desert One, chronicling a perilous mission to rescue hostages in Iran, and Gibney’s Citizen K, profiling the Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
Meanwhile, the genre lineup of Midnight Madness includes Richard Stanley’s H.P. Lovecraft adaptation Color Out of Space, which stars Nicolas Cage and brings the director back to the section after 29 years, and Takashi Miike’s Japanese action-comedy First Love.
The Discovery section will open with Chiara Malta’s Simple Women,...
- 8/8/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
New works from celebrated documentary filmmakers Alex Gibney, Barbara Kopple, Lauren Greenfield, Alan Berliner, Feras Fayyad, Patricio Guzman, Fisher Stevens and Mark Cousins will be showcased in the Tiff Docs section of the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival, Tiff organizers announced on Thursday.
In addition to the 25 documentaries, the festival also revealed more than 50 additional films in the Midnight Madness, Tiff Discovery and Tiff Cinematheque sections.
The documentary section will open with “The Cave” from Feras Fayyad, director of the Oscar-nominated “Last Men in Aleppo.” The film is set in an underground hospital led by a female doctor in Syria. Other former Oscar nominees and winners showing films at Tiff include Gibney with “Citizen K,” his portrait of Russian oligarch-turned-Putin-critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky; Kopple, with “Desert One,” about an Iranian hostage rescue mission; and Stevens, co-director with Malcolm Venville of “And We Go Green,” a Leonardo DiCaprio-produced film about the Formula...
In addition to the 25 documentaries, the festival also revealed more than 50 additional films in the Midnight Madness, Tiff Discovery and Tiff Cinematheque sections.
The documentary section will open with “The Cave” from Feras Fayyad, director of the Oscar-nominated “Last Men in Aleppo.” The film is set in an underground hospital led by a female doctor in Syria. Other former Oscar nominees and winners showing films at Tiff include Gibney with “Citizen K,” his portrait of Russian oligarch-turned-Putin-critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky; Kopple, with “Desert One,” about an Iranian hostage rescue mission; and Stevens, co-director with Malcolm Venville of “And We Go Green,” a Leonardo DiCaprio-produced film about the Formula...
- 8/8/2019
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Two of the Toronto International Film Festival’s signature programs have today unveiled their full slates, including both the genre-bending Midnight Madness program and the wide-ranging Tiff Docs section. Both slates will feature a number of highly anticipated premieres, with the lauded documentary section playing home to films like Feras Fayyad’s “The Cave” (which will open Tiff Docs), Mark Cousins’ 14-hour “Women Make Film,” Bryce Dallas Howard making her feature directorial debut with the documentary “Dads,” along with new films from Barbara Kopple, Alex Gibney, and Lauren Greenfield.
The Tiff Docs lineup includes 25 non-fiction works, including 18 world premieres with representation from 18 countries. The films cover many high-profile figures, both famous and infamous — including Truman Capote, Merce Cunningham, Ron Howard, Bikram Choudhury, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Imelda Marcos — and a broad range of themes, including artistic achievement, the power of journalism, immigration, global politics, and resistance against corrupt leaders.
“This year...
The Tiff Docs lineup includes 25 non-fiction works, including 18 world premieres with representation from 18 countries. The films cover many high-profile figures, both famous and infamous — including Truman Capote, Merce Cunningham, Ron Howard, Bikram Choudhury, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Imelda Marcos — and a broad range of themes, including artistic achievement, the power of journalism, immigration, global politics, and resistance against corrupt leaders.
“This year...
- 8/8/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Russian filmmaker Alexander Rastorguyev was killed along with cameraman Kirill Radchenko and war correspondent Orkhan Dzhemal in the Central African Republic while filming an investigative documentary about the Wagner group, a private Russian military firm allegedly linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Reuters news agency reported.
The three journalists, who were commissioned by Russian online news organization Investigation Control Centre to make the documentary, died in an ambush by unidentified assailants on Monday, Reuters said, quoting local authorities. The bodies were found in a bullet-ridden car near Sibut, according to the U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic.
“According to the driver’s explanations, when they were 23 kilometers [14 miles] from Sibut…armed men emerged from the bush and opened fire on the vehicle. The three journalists died instantly,” Henri Depele, the mayor of Sibut, told Reuters.
Russia’s foreign ministry issued a statement Tuesday identifying the victims and said...
The three journalists, who were commissioned by Russian online news organization Investigation Control Centre to make the documentary, died in an ambush by unidentified assailants on Monday, Reuters said, quoting local authorities. The bodies were found in a bullet-ridden car near Sibut, according to the U.N. Mission in the Central African Republic.
“According to the driver’s explanations, when they were 23 kilometers [14 miles] from Sibut…armed men emerged from the bush and opened fire on the vehicle. The three journalists died instantly,” Henri Depele, the mayor of Sibut, told Reuters.
Russia’s foreign ministry issued a statement Tuesday identifying the victims and said...
- 8/1/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Three Russian nationals killed in the Central African Republic late Monday are believed to be prominent documentary filmmaker Alexander Rastorguyev, cameraman Kirill Radchenko and journalist Orkhan Dzhemal. The Russian Foreign Ministry has confirmed that the men found dead about 300 kilometers from the capital of Bangui had ID cards on them bearing those names. The trio’s driver has told Reuters they were ambushed by armed men outside the town of Sibut.
Rastorguyev’s films have played at the Karlovy Vary and Cinéma du Réel festivals, among others. His credits include the 2014 award-winning doc Srok (The Term), about the opposition movement in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Dzhemal was a leading military correspondent and Radchenko a former projectionist, according to reports.
The crew was looking into the activities of a private security company with murky ties to the Kremlin. The film project is backed by The Centre for Investigation, a news organization...
Rastorguyev’s films have played at the Karlovy Vary and Cinéma du Réel festivals, among others. His credits include the 2014 award-winning doc Srok (The Term), about the opposition movement in Vladimir Putin’s Russia. Dzhemal was a leading military correspondent and Radchenko a former projectionist, according to reports.
The crew was looking into the activities of a private security company with murky ties to the Kremlin. The film project is backed by The Centre for Investigation, a news organization...
- 8/1/2018
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Miguel Gomes’ Arabian Nights wins Fipresci Jury prize at New Horizons festival.
Belgian director Gust Van den Berghe’s third feature Lucifer has won the $22,000 (€20,000) Grand Prix in the International Competition at the 15th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (July 23 - Aug 2) in Poland’s Wroclaw.
Set in a Mexican village at the base of a volcano, Lucifer is the third instalment in Van den Berghe’s triptych about the emergence of human consciousness after Little Baby Jesus of Flandr and Blue Bird, previously shown in Wroclaw in 2012.
Lucifer received its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival last October and won the Grand Prix at the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia’s Tallinn in November.
The International Competition Jury, which included filmmakers Anna Sosnal, Reha Erdem, and Noaz Deshe and festival programmer Diane Henderson, also gave a special mention to Carlos M. Quintela’s Rotterdam winner The Project Of The Century.
Other awards...
Belgian director Gust Van den Berghe’s third feature Lucifer has won the $22,000 (€20,000) Grand Prix in the International Competition at the 15th T-Mobile New Horizons International Film Festival (July 23 - Aug 2) in Poland’s Wroclaw.
Set in a Mexican village at the base of a volcano, Lucifer is the third instalment in Van den Berghe’s triptych about the emergence of human consciousness after Little Baby Jesus of Flandr and Blue Bird, previously shown in Wroclaw in 2012.
Lucifer received its world premiere at the Rome Film Festival last October and won the Grand Prix at the Black Nights Film Festival in Estonia’s Tallinn in November.
The International Competition Jury, which included filmmakers Anna Sosnal, Reha Erdem, and Noaz Deshe and festival programmer Diane Henderson, also gave a special mention to Carlos M. Quintela’s Rotterdam winner The Project Of The Century.
Other awards...
- 8/3/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
The larger-than-life tycoon behind Megaupload.com, in New Zealand facing Us piracy charges, has made a dance album to distract himself from his woes. But how does he fit that in with playing Call of Duty all night?
Rush hour has begun on a sunny Friday afternoon but Kim Dotcom, internet entrepreneur and bete noire of the entertainment industry, is asleep. He keeps strange hours – working, eating and gaming all night, sleeping most of the day.
I'm not the only one waiting for him to wake in the shady outdoor dining area of the Dotcom mansion, a Nz$30m (£15m) pile half an hour's drive north of Auckland. James Kimmer, Dotcom's political adviser, whose other clients include the recently freed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is here to shoot a campaign ad for Dotcom's new political party, which will contest the next New Zealand general election, almost certain to be held at some point this year.
Rush hour has begun on a sunny Friday afternoon but Kim Dotcom, internet entrepreneur and bete noire of the entertainment industry, is asleep. He keeps strange hours – working, eating and gaming all night, sleeping most of the day.
I'm not the only one waiting for him to wake in the shady outdoor dining area of the Dotcom mansion, a Nz$30m (£15m) pile half an hour's drive north of Auckland. James Kimmer, Dotcom's political adviser, whose other clients include the recently freed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is here to shoot a campaign ad for Dotcom's new political party, which will contest the next New Zealand general election, almost certain to be held at some point this year.
- 1/15/2014
- by Duncan Greive
- The Guardian - Film News
Russia rarely has anything other than rollercoaster years. 2013 was no exception. As is often the case in the country, political decisions and social trends had a big effect on the entertainment industry and community – from the introduction of anti-gay legislation to new controls on Russian media. Here is THR's look at the events and trends that shaped the media and entertainment industries in Russia in 2013: Pussy Riot, Mikhail Khodorkovsky Two young members of punk band Pussy Riot began the year still in shock, just a few months into a two-year stretch in prison colonies far
read more...
read more...
- 12/31/2013
- by Nick Holdsworth, Vladmir Kozlov
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The recently freed members of Pussy Riot - a girl group sent packing to a Russian Gulag by Vladimir Putin - plan to form a human rights organization focusing on prisoners. Their crime? "Hooliganism." Billboard reported that Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alyokhina told reporters in Moscow that they will call the group "Zona Prava" – which translates to "justice zone" – and that they hope to collaborate with former tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who was also freed last week after serving a 10-year jail term. Tolokonnikova also noted, "We won't ask anyone for financial assistance," noting that they hoped to work with Khodorkovsky "on an ideological level." The group would be financed by crowd-funding. The women served a hard...
- 12/27/2013
- by April Neale
- Monsters and Critics
Moscow -- More than 18 months after being jailed for staging an anarchic musical protest in a Moscow cathedral against political repression in Russia, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Maria Alokhyna, freed members of punk band Pussy Riot, were reunited Tuesday in Siberia. Released early Monday from prison sentences of two years in penal colonies thousands of miles apart, the women met again at Krasnoyarsk airport and defiantly vowed to fight to free Russia from "totalitarianism." Story: Exiled Russian Ex-Tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky Recasts Himself as Advocate for Political Prisoners Alokhyna, the first to be freed, flew to meet her friend, who had spent recent
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- 12/24/2013
- by Nick Holdsworth
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Medvedev nominates chief executive for state-owned Rosneft board five years after Dudley left Russia under a cloud
Bob Dudley, the Bp boss, is poised to make a triumphant return to Moscow after being nominated to the board of state-owned Rosneft by the country's prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev.
It is an astonishing change of fortunes for the Bp chief executive, who was chased out of Russia in 2008 amid speculation in the west that the Kremlin was supporting a campaign of harassment.
The nomination of Dudley, a Us citizen who was chief executive of Moscow-based Tnk-bp, was contained in a decree published on the government's website and was immediately declared "welcome" at Bp's headquarters in London.
Bp needs a success as it fights Us government charges in a New Orleans court that it acted with gross negligence during the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico three years ago.
The British...
Bob Dudley, the Bp boss, is poised to make a triumphant return to Moscow after being nominated to the board of state-owned Rosneft by the country's prime minister, Dmitry Medvedev.
It is an astonishing change of fortunes for the Bp chief executive, who was chased out of Russia in 2008 amid speculation in the west that the Kremlin was supporting a campaign of harassment.
The nomination of Dudley, a Us citizen who was chief executive of Moscow-based Tnk-bp, was contained in a decree published on the government's website and was immediately declared "welcome" at Bp's headquarters in London.
Bp needs a success as it fights Us government charges in a New Orleans court that it acted with gross negligence during the Deepwater Horizon accident in the Gulf of Mexico three years ago.
The British...
- 3/1/2013
- by Terry Macalister
- The Guardian - Film News
Russian president confounds doom-mongers with scientific approach, calculating that world will end in 4.5bn years
As millions of people prepared to meet their fiery Mayan deaths , one man remained cool and calm. According to Vladimir Putin, Russia's president – and now apparently chief prophecy maker – the world still has 4.5bn years to go.
"I know when the end of the world will come," Putin said with his usual confidence during a press conference on Thursday. "When?" asked a nervous journalist. "In about 4.5bn years," he replied. Sighs of relief were breathed across Russia.
Yet the prophecy may have come too late. Around the world, people were flocking to sites touted as apocalypse-proof in hopes of avoiding the end of the world supposedly predicted by the Mayans thousands of years ago. In anticipation of an end-of-the-world influx, French gendarmes were dispatched to the village of Bugarach at the foot of the French Pyrenees,...
As millions of people prepared to meet their fiery Mayan deaths , one man remained cool and calm. According to Vladimir Putin, Russia's president – and now apparently chief prophecy maker – the world still has 4.5bn years to go.
"I know when the end of the world will come," Putin said with his usual confidence during a press conference on Thursday. "When?" asked a nervous journalist. "In about 4.5bn years," he replied. Sighs of relief were breathed across Russia.
Yet the prophecy may have come too late. Around the world, people were flocking to sites touted as apocalypse-proof in hopes of avoiding the end of the world supposedly predicted by the Mayans thousands of years ago. In anticipation of an end-of-the-world influx, French gendarmes were dispatched to the village of Bugarach at the foot of the French Pyrenees,...
- 12/21/2012
- by Miriam Elder
- The Guardian - Film News
German filmmaker Cyril Tuschi ("SommerHundeSöhne," "Turn") is looking to make "Three Dates With Harry Harrison", a project that's being described as an English language rom-com about Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
Producer Jan Krüger tells Screen Daily that "Cyril came up with the fact that Assange had been involved in internet dating using the screen name of Harry Harrison. So, the film recounts three dates with Harry Harrison taking place in 2010."
They've even broken down the dates themselves - "One date is in Iceland when he was establishing a organisation that would change journalism, democracy and the Internet. Then we jump to the second date with a fan in Sweden where he is the man of the moment and feted like a popstar… Finally, there is an internet date in a manor house in London, with ‘Harrison’ all by himself wearing an electronic tag, third date being with a woman journalist...
Producer Jan Krüger tells Screen Daily that "Cyril came up with the fact that Assange had been involved in internet dating using the screen name of Harry Harrison. So, the film recounts three dates with Harry Harrison taking place in 2010."
They've even broken down the dates themselves - "One date is in Iceland when he was establishing a organisation that would change journalism, democracy and the Internet. Then we jump to the second date with a fan in Sweden where he is the man of the moment and feted like a popstar… Finally, there is an internet date in a manor house in London, with ‘Harrison’ all by himself wearing an electronic tag, third date being with a woman journalist...
- 6/25/2012
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Acclaimed documentary-maker, Cyril Tuschi, is to direct a film about a series of fictional dates involving the Wikileaks founder, to be shot in Germany
Cyril Tuschi, the director of an acclaimed documentary about imprisoned Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is to make a fictional film imagining a trio of romantic assignations involving Julian Assange.
Alongside British screenwriter Michael Gaster, whose credits include the 2010 short Underdogs, Tuschi is working on an English-language script entitled Leaks – Three Dates With Harry Harrison. Co-producer Jan Krüger told Screen International:
"Cyril came up with the fact that Assange had been involved in internet dating using the screen name of Harry Harrison. So, the film recounts three dates with Harry Harrison taking place in 2010. One date is in Iceland when he was establishing a organisation that would change journalism, democracy and the internet. Then we jump to the second date with a fan in Sweden where he...
Cyril Tuschi, the director of an acclaimed documentary about imprisoned Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, is to make a fictional film imagining a trio of romantic assignations involving Julian Assange.
Alongside British screenwriter Michael Gaster, whose credits include the 2010 short Underdogs, Tuschi is working on an English-language script entitled Leaks – Three Dates With Harry Harrison. Co-producer Jan Krüger told Screen International:
"Cyril came up with the fact that Assange had been involved in internet dating using the screen name of Harry Harrison. So, the film recounts three dates with Harry Harrison taking place in 2010. One date is in Iceland when he was establishing a organisation that would change journalism, democracy and the internet. Then we jump to the second date with a fan in Sweden where he...
- 6/25/2012
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Cyril Tuschi, the director of Khodorkovsky, a documentary on the jailed Russian oligarch that we've been streaming this week, joined Luke Harding for an interview in the Guardian's office. Here's the excerpts from their conversation, as transcribed by Xan Brooks
1.00pm: Mikhail Khodorkovsky was a symbol of the new Russia - the richest man in the world under the age of 40 - until he fell foul of president Vladimir Putin and was imprisoned in Siberia on charges of tax evasion. In the wake of Russia's 2012 presidential election, Khodorkovsky's sentence is now under review and the suggestion is he may be freed.
Cyril Tuschi's documentary Khodorkovsky charts the rise and fall of the dissident oligarch and shines a worrying light on the state of Putin's Russia. Guardian journalist Luke Harding, whose new book, Mafia States, details the events that lead to him becoming the first western reporter to be...
1.00pm: Mikhail Khodorkovsky was a symbol of the new Russia - the richest man in the world under the age of 40 - until he fell foul of president Vladimir Putin and was imprisoned in Siberia on charges of tax evasion. In the wake of Russia's 2012 presidential election, Khodorkovsky's sentence is now under review and the suggestion is he may be freed.
Cyril Tuschi's documentary Khodorkovsky charts the rise and fall of the dissident oligarch and shines a worrying light on the state of Putin's Russia. Guardian journalist Luke Harding, whose new book, Mafia States, details the events that lead to him becoming the first western reporter to be...
- 3/5/2012
- by Xan Brooks
- The Guardian - Film News
The Josef Fritzl affair and similar cases of horrendous incarceration revealed in its wake have now produced a sizable body of documentaries, feature films and fiction too, of which Michael is a minor, rather puzzling addition. The 40-year-old Austrian film-maker Markus Schleinzer, whose first feature film this is, has worked as a casting director on over 60 films, among them Michael Haneke's The Piano Teacher, Time of the Wolf and, most significantly, The White Ribbon, on which he coached the child actors.
The eponymous Michael (Michael Fuith) is a 35-year-old minor official with an Austrian insurance company, who keeps the 10-year-old Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger) a prisoner in the soundproofed basement of his suburban home. Michael is a bespectacled, nondescript loner with a brother and sister both married with children. He largely keeps to himself, rejecting the advances of a female colleague, whom he physically throws out of his house when she intrudes.
The eponymous Michael (Michael Fuith) is a 35-year-old minor official with an Austrian insurance company, who keeps the 10-year-old Wolfgang (David Rauchenberger) a prisoner in the soundproofed basement of his suburban home. Michael is a bespectacled, nondescript loner with a brother and sister both married with children. He largely keeps to himself, rejecting the advances of a female colleague, whom he physically throws out of his house when she intrudes.
- 3/4/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
The Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky, one of the chief beneficiaries of the carve-up of various state monopolies following the collapse of the Soviet Union, was the nation's greatest oil tycoon in 2003. Then he made two mistakes, one admirable, one foolish. First, he suggested that president Vladimir Putin's declared aim of bringing democracy to Russia would benefit from an effective opposition and made certain mild efforts to bring this about. Second, he failed to heed warnings to get out of the country and join his billions abroad. As a result he was brutally arrested when his private jet put down, appeared before a rigged court charged with income tax evasion and was sent to a remote corner of the Gulag, where he's likely to remain while Putin stays in charge.
The German director Cyril Tuschi's sober documentary gives a lucid account of the events preceding and following the arrest,...
The German director Cyril Tuschi's sober documentary gives a lucid account of the events preceding and following the arrest,...
- 3/4/2012
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
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