With all eyes on Sochi for the Olympic Games for most of this month, Indiewire's latest curated selections for Hulu's Documentaries page explores host country Russia. Watch these and other docs now for free!Modern-day politics, ideology, and the cult of personality around Russia's president is the focus of Lise Birk Pederson's bracing "Putin's Kiss."Cyril Tuschi's "Khodorkovsky" reveals how the country's former richest citizen became a political prisoner after challenging President Putin.Post-Soviet prisoners are also the subject of Maria Yatskova-Ibrahimova's "Miss Gulag," focused on a Siberian prison camp beauty pageant.A pair of films offer cross-cultural exchanges through music: Nina Gilden Seavey's "The Ballad of Bering Strait" follows a Russian country band as it adjusts to life in rural Tennessee, while Petter Ringbom's "The Russian Winter" chronicles former Fugees musician John Forté's re-emergence from prison to recording an album in...
- 2/14/2014
- by Basil Tsiokos
- Indiewire
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
Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the Russian punk band Pussy Riot were released from prison on Dec. 23, after spending two long years there for protesting Vladimir Putin’s regime at a cathedral. Now, the band is slamming the amnesty law that freed them as a PR stunt from the Kremlin to improve Russian relations before the Winter Olympics. Find out why below!
The world was outraged when Pussy Riot‘s Maria Alyokhina, 25, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24 — along with bandmate Yekaterina Samutsevich, 31 — were thrown in prison in 2012 for protesting Vladimir Putin‘s oppressive regime in a Russian cathedral. Now the two young moms are free, but they’re not keeping quiet about the shocking conditions they faced in prison, or their thoughts on the law that freed them.
Pussy Riot Freed: The Real Reason Behind Their Release
Maria, Nadezhda, and Yekaterina — who was released in October of 2012 when her case was...
The world was outraged when Pussy Riot‘s Maria Alyokhina, 25, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 24 — along with bandmate Yekaterina Samutsevich, 31 — were thrown in prison in 2012 for protesting Vladimir Putin‘s oppressive regime in a Russian cathedral. Now the two young moms are free, but they’re not keeping quiet about the shocking conditions they faced in prison, or their thoughts on the law that freed them.
Pussy Riot Freed: The Real Reason Behind Their Release
Maria, Nadezhda, and Yekaterina — who was released in October of 2012 when her case was...
- 12/23/2013
- by Shaunna Murphy
- HollywoodLife
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
Sherlock actor could follow turns in The Hobbit and Twelve Years a Slave with starring role in story of WikiLeaks founder
Benedict Cumberbatch is in line to play Julian Assange in a forthcoming biopic about the WikiLeaks founder, reports Deadline.
Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks studio is basing its film on the books WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, by Guardian writers David Leigh and Luke Harding, and Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website, written by Assange's former right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg. Both books were optioned by the studio last year. Deadline says Joel Kinnaman of the Us version of The Killing, who was recently cast as the new Robocop, could play Domscheit-Berg.
The casting news suggests that Jeremy Renner, who had previously been tipped to play Assange, is no longer in the running. Bill Condon, the man behind The Twilight Saga:...
Benedict Cumberbatch is in line to play Julian Assange in a forthcoming biopic about the WikiLeaks founder, reports Deadline.
Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks studio is basing its film on the books WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy, by Guardian writers David Leigh and Luke Harding, and Inside WikiLeaks: My Time With Julian Assange at the World's Most Dangerous Website, written by Assange's former right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg. Both books were optioned by the studio last year. Deadline says Joel Kinnaman of the Us version of The Killing, who was recently cast as the new Robocop, could play Domscheit-Berg.
The casting news suggests that Jeremy Renner, who had previously been tipped to play Assange, is no longer in the running. Bill Condon, the man behind The Twilight Saga:...
- 10/3/2012
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
DreamWorks studio, which optioned two Guardian journalists' book about the WikiLeaks saga, is looking to cast the star of The Bourne Legacy as the outspoken activist
Julian Assange, the man Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger once described as "a compelling character who goes beyond what any Hollywood scriptwriter would dare to invent", may be played by Jeremy Renner in DreamWorks' planned movie version about the inside story of WikiLeaks.
Renner, who is gearing up for the release of The Bourne Legacy – the latest instalment in the spy franchise made famous by Matt Damon – is "looking hard" at playing the outspoken activist, according to the Deadline blog. Bill Condon, the man behind Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn parts one and two, is rumoured to be lined up as director.
DreamWorks' WikiLeaks movie will span the events covered by Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding's book, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy,...
Julian Assange, the man Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger once described as "a compelling character who goes beyond what any Hollywood scriptwriter would dare to invent", may be played by Jeremy Renner in DreamWorks' planned movie version about the inside story of WikiLeaks.
Renner, who is gearing up for the release of The Bourne Legacy – the latest instalment in the spy franchise made famous by Matt Damon – is "looking hard" at playing the outspoken activist, according to the Deadline blog. Bill Condon, the man behind Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn parts one and two, is rumoured to be lined up as director.
DreamWorks' WikiLeaks movie will span the events covered by Guardian journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding's book, WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange's War on Secrecy,...
- 7/24/2012
- by Henry Barnes
- 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
Michael (18)
(Markus Schleinzer) Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger, Gisella Salcher. 96 mins
The daily routine of an Austrian paedophile who keeps a young boy locked in his cellar was hardly something anyone was queuing up to see, but this challenges us, and itself, to take a look. At the same time, it thankfully averts its gaze from scenes of actual abuse. There are keen observations on parenting, privacy, power relations and more, but the flat, factual approach verges on dull, and the absence of empathy ultimately just leaves you feeling grubby. So get in line for the grimmest movie of the year!
This Means War (12A)
(McG, 2012, Us) Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon. 98 mins
Two suspiciously close CIA buddies fall out when they discover they're dating the same woman – cue the misuse of government equipment and their own combat skills for one-upmanship. The romcom high concept is novel for a good reason: it's completely ridiculous.
(Markus Schleinzer) Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger, Gisella Salcher. 96 mins
The daily routine of an Austrian paedophile who keeps a young boy locked in his cellar was hardly something anyone was queuing up to see, but this challenges us, and itself, to take a look. At the same time, it thankfully averts its gaze from scenes of actual abuse. There are keen observations on parenting, privacy, power relations and more, but the flat, factual approach verges on dull, and the absence of empathy ultimately just leaves you feeling grubby. So get in line for the grimmest movie of the year!
This Means War (12A)
(McG, 2012, Us) Chris Pine, Tom Hardy, Reese Witherspoon. 98 mins
Two suspiciously close CIA buddies fall out when they discover they're dating the same woman – cue the misuse of government equipment and their own combat skills for one-upmanship. The romcom high concept is novel for a good reason: it's completely ridiculous.
- 3/3/2012
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
Not only is this documentary a fascinating insight into the fall of an oligarch, it's a glimpse into the soul of contemporary Russia itself
Cyril Tuschi's documentary about the jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a fascinating insight into this mysterious and ambiguous figure, into the dark heart of Putin's Kremlin, and even into the soul of contemporary Russia itself. Khodorkovsky was jailed in October 2003 for non-payment of tax. Before that, he had been one of the world's richest men, head of the Siberian oil giant Yukos. Tuschi's film portrays Khodorkovsky's tax evasion as more a case of failing to give the top gangster his cut. The sudden emergence of Russia's super-rich elite was not the natural process of dynamic capitalism: more an action by which Putin, the capo di tutti capi, created a platoon of supportive mafiosi for whom state assets were carved up. Khodorkovsky was one of these men,...
Cyril Tuschi's documentary about the jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky is a fascinating insight into this mysterious and ambiguous figure, into the dark heart of Putin's Kremlin, and even into the soul of contemporary Russia itself. Khodorkovsky was jailed in October 2003 for non-payment of tax. Before that, he had been one of the world's richest men, head of the Siberian oil giant Yukos. Tuschi's film portrays Khodorkovsky's tax evasion as more a case of failing to give the top gangster his cut. The sudden emergence of Russia's super-rich elite was not the natural process of dynamic capitalism: more an action by which Putin, the capo di tutti capi, created a platoon of supportive mafiosi for whom state assets were carved up. Khodorkovsky was one of these men,...
- 3/2/2012
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Khodorkovsky is a film about the man who challenged the power of Russian president Vladimir Putin and the consequences of that challenge. Join director Cyril Tuschi and the Guardian's former Moscow correspondent, Luke Harding, for a screening and discussion on 5 March
In 2003 Russia's richest oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, began to support the political opposition and challenge Russia's all powerful president Vladimir Putin. By doing so he set in motion a series of events that are still being felt today and most likely for years to come. Putin's response was to arrest Khodorkovsky in a dramatic raid on his private jet in October 2003 and then banish him to a Siberian gulag on trumped up charges of tax evasion.
Featuring an exclusive interview with Khodorkovsky behind bars (the only one of its kind), and with contributions from major political insiders and journalists, Khodorkovsky traces the metamorphosis of Russia's richest man into its most famous political prisoner.
In 2003 Russia's richest oligarch, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, began to support the political opposition and challenge Russia's all powerful president Vladimir Putin. By doing so he set in motion a series of events that are still being felt today and most likely for years to come. Putin's response was to arrest Khodorkovsky in a dramatic raid on his private jet in October 2003 and then banish him to a Siberian gulag on trumped up charges of tax evasion.
Featuring an exclusive interview with Khodorkovsky behind bars (the only one of its kind), and with contributions from major political insiders and journalists, Khodorkovsky traces the metamorphosis of Russia's richest man into its most famous political prisoner.
- 2/24/2012
- The Guardian - Film News
Mikhail Khodorkovsky was one of the world’s youngest and richest billionaires to emerge from the wealthy Russian oligarchy society, a tycoon owning billions in oil money by the time he was 40. He is now the world’s wealthiest prisoner, freezing in solitude in an obscure secret prison in the frozen depths of Siberia. How did one man’s rise to fortune take such a drastic turn of events? In Cyrill Tuschi’s fascinating and dense political documentary Khodorkovsky, he carefully examines the origin of how one man could ever rise to such power and fortune while historically documenting the birth of capitalist Russia. The film also takes a hard long look at the powerful ex-kgb president Vladimir Putin and how his abuse of power led to Khordorkovsky imprisonment merely because he wanted to support the political opposition. And while Tuschi does a fine job of profiling the enigmatic Khodorkovsky...
- 12/2/2011
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
German filmmaker Cyril Tuschi will be in New York this evening to present Khodorkovsky at Film Forum, where the doc sees a run through December 13. As Vladimir Kozlov reports for the Moscow News, audiences in Russia will have a harder time catching this "portrait of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, ex-owner of the Yukos oil empire and a Kremlin opponent, who is serving a 13-year sentence for tax evasion, embezzlement and money laundering. Just over a week before the scheduled release date, December 1, the films distributor, Kinoklub, said six Moscow theaters that originally agreed to screen the movie had pulled it under various pretexts. As a result, the film is to open only at one cinema, Eldar, and some screenings are also to be held at the gallery Fotoloft in the Winzavod arts center."
At Russia Profile, Dan Peleschuk notes that this is hardly the first time the film's met with suspicious attempts...
At Russia Profile, Dan Peleschuk notes that this is hardly the first time the film's met with suspicious attempts...
- 12/1/2011
- MUBI
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, once the richest man in Russia, is now one of its most high-profile prisoners, tucked away in a penal colony in snowy Siberia, where he’s serving an ever-expanding sentence for embezzlement and tax evasion. The former CEO of the oil company Yukos, Khodorkovsky plummeted from grace after siding with opposition parties against Vladimir Putin in 2003, and as German filmmaker Cyril Tuschi explores in his pleasingly dense documentary Khodorkovsky, that’s likely just as much (if not the entirety) of the reason he’s imprisoned today. Khodorkovsky concludes with a theoretical coup of an interview get with ...
- 12/1/2011
- avclub.com
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? Declaration of War Trailer When it comes to parents and sick kids, everyone seems to have a story in them. However, this at least makes an original argument for itself.
- 11/27/2011
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
by Steve Dollar
As Occupy Wall Street protests continue to fill the streets of New York City (and elsewhere), demanding among other things that leaders of financial institutions be held accountable for profiting on the 2008 economic collapse their policies helped to urge, things are very different in Russia. We don't usually jail CEOs in the United States for destroying the nation's well-being. Over there, though, the richest guy in the country gets thrown into solitary confinement in Siberia for challenging corruption and refusing to kowtow to Vladimir Putin (formerly president of the Russian Federation and current prime minister of Russia). Not only that, a hundred of his top-level executives were forced into exile, more or less permanently stuck in places like Tel Aviv and London, wanted by Interpol on various charges—including shaky allegations of murder.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who in 2002 was the wealthiest person in the world under the age...
As Occupy Wall Street protests continue to fill the streets of New York City (and elsewhere), demanding among other things that leaders of financial institutions be held accountable for profiting on the 2008 economic collapse their policies helped to urge, things are very different in Russia. We don't usually jail CEOs in the United States for destroying the nation's well-being. Over there, though, the richest guy in the country gets thrown into solitary confinement in Siberia for challenging corruption and refusing to kowtow to Vladimir Putin (formerly president of the Russian Federation and current prime minister of Russia). Not only that, a hundred of his top-level executives were forced into exile, more or less permanently stuck in places like Tel Aviv and London, wanted by Interpol on various charges—including shaky allegations of murder.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who in 2002 was the wealthiest person in the world under the age...
- 11/22/2011
- GreenCine Daily
The French Sales Agent, Theatrical Distribution and Production company based out of Paris comes to the fest with a pair of items (Cristian Jimenez's Bonsai and Liza Johnson's Return) but Rezo also got a pair of must sees in Julie Delpy's 2 Days in New York (which we could technically find at Tiff and will once again back a Stéphane Brize project -- his A Few Hours of Spring is currently in pre-production. Khodorkovsky by Cyril Tuschi - Completed Le Tableau by Jean-François Laguionie - Post-Production Resistance by Amit Gupta - Post-Production Return by Liza Johnson - Completed 2 Days In New York by Julie Delpy - Post-Production A Few Hours Of Spring by Stéphane BRIZÉ - Pre-Production BONSÁI by Cristian Jimenez - Completed Magic Valley by Jaffe Zinn - Completed Neon Flesh (Carne De Neon) by Paco Cabezas - Completed Prey (Proie) by Antoine Blossier - Completed Amigo by John Sayles...
- 5/31/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
Despite his claim of objectivity, director Cyril Tuschi speaks to more of Khodorkovsky's friends than foes
Proving there is nothing like a scandal to get bums on seats, the hot ticket at this year's Berlin film festival was a documentary by an obscure German director about the jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The film had been due for a handful of low-key screenings until someone stole it from the director's office 10 days ago and suddenly everybody wanted to see it.
In fairness, it was always an interesting proposition. With a budget of just €400,000 (£336,000), the director, Cyril Tuschi, claimed to have secured something no media organisation in the world had managed: an on-camera interview conducted through the bars of the dock during Khodorkovsky's second trial in Moscow last year.
Oddly, the interview itself is one of the less gripping scenes in the 113-minute documentary. It is remarkable only for...
Proving there is nothing like a scandal to get bums on seats, the hot ticket at this year's Berlin film festival was a documentary by an obscure German director about the jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
The film had been due for a handful of low-key screenings until someone stole it from the director's office 10 days ago and suddenly everybody wanted to see it.
In fairness, it was always an interesting proposition. With a budget of just €400,000 (£336,000), the director, Cyril Tuschi, claimed to have secured something no media organisation in the world had managed: an on-camera interview conducted through the bars of the dock during Khodorkovsky's second trial in Moscow last year.
Oddly, the interview itself is one of the less gripping scenes in the 113-minute documentary. It is remarkable only for...
- 2/15/2011
- by Helen Pidd
- The Guardian - Film News
I'm hoping that I'll soon be able to post thoughts on Ulrich Köhler's Sleeping Sickness, Wim Wenders's Pina (I'll be arguing the case for the defense), Ralph Fiennes's Coriolanus and, from programs other than the Competition, Aditya Assarat's Hi-So, Joe Swanberg's Silver Bullets and Art History, Seung-wan Ryoo's The Unjust and Cyril Tuschi's Khodorkovsky — but for now, a quick roundup on films of potential interest (for whatever reason) that I've missed and, considering the way the schedule's panning out, may not get around to seeing, at least at the Berlinale.
"As the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster approaches, it's time for the tragic events of April 26, 1986 to find filmic expression, beyond the several excellent documentaries already made," writes Deborah Young in the Hollywood Reporter. "Given the tension and humanity of its first hour, Innocent Saturday should have been that film. It isn't,...
"As the 25th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster approaches, it's time for the tragic events of April 26, 1986 to find filmic expression, beyond the several excellent documentaries already made," writes Deborah Young in the Hollywood Reporter. "Given the tension and humanity of its first hour, Innocent Saturday should have been that film. It isn't,...
- 2/14/2011
- MUBI
Talk about piracy. Only days before its scheduled premiere at the Berlin Film Festival, the final cut of Cyril Tuschi's documentary "Khodorkovsky" -- about a jailed Russian oligarch and harsh critic of President Vladimir Putin -- was stolen from the director's office in Berlin, The Guardian reported Monday. But not to worry: unless there's another break-in, the film will premiere as planned. Tuschi already sent a copy to the film festival's office. The newspaper reports, entirely seriously, that "there is suspicion that the theft is politically motivated." The director, who was born in Germany...
- 2/8/2011
- by Joshua L. Weinstein
- The Wrap
• Documentary's final cut stolen days before Berlin premiere
• German director Tuschi says crew were harassed in Russia
The final edit of a documentary about jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been stolen from the director's office in Berlin, just days before its world premiere.
In what police described as a "very professional break-in", four computers containing the last cut of the film, titled simply Khodorkovsky, were removed from Cyril Tuschi's premises.
The documentary was due to be premiered at the Berlin film festival next week.
Khodorkovsky, a fierce critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, was once his country's richest man but has been in jail on fraud charges since 2005 after falling foul of the Kremlin.
Although police have no leads in the case, there is suspicion that the theft is politically motivated and forms part of a Russian campaign against its critics.
"It's like being in a bad thriller,...
• German director Tuschi says crew were harassed in Russia
The final edit of a documentary about jailed Russian oligarch Mikhail Khodorkovsky has been stolen from the director's office in Berlin, just days before its world premiere.
In what police described as a "very professional break-in", four computers containing the last cut of the film, titled simply Khodorkovsky, were removed from Cyril Tuschi's premises.
The documentary was due to be premiered at the Berlin film festival next week.
Khodorkovsky, a fierce critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin, was once his country's richest man but has been in jail on fraud charges since 2005 after falling foul of the Kremlin.
Although police have no leads in the case, there is suspicion that the theft is politically motivated and forms part of a Russian campaign against its critics.
"It's like being in a bad thriller,...
- 2/8/2011
- by Helen Pidd, Miriam Elder
- The Guardian - Film News
Theft of Khodorkovsky film believed to be part of Kremlin campaign against Russian oligarchs powerful enough to pose a threat to Russian Pm
The final version of a documentary about Russian former-industrialist Mikhail Khodorkovsky, due to be shown at the Berlin film festival, has been reported stolen after a break-in at the production offices of Cyril Tuschi, the film's director, in the German capital. This is the second time the film, entitled Khodorkovsky, has suffered following the reported robbery of a laptop containing a previous edit.
Although local police say they have no leads, the immediate suspicion is that the theft is politically motivated and forms part of a Kremlin campaign against Russian oligarchs powerful enough to pose a challenge to Vladimir Putin.
Khodorkovsky, 47, was once Russia's wealthiest man; as recently as 2004 he was listed at No 16 on Forbes's worldwide rich list, with a net worth of $15bn (£9.3bn), based...
The final version of a documentary about Russian former-industrialist Mikhail Khodorkovsky, due to be shown at the Berlin film festival, has been reported stolen after a break-in at the production offices of Cyril Tuschi, the film's director, in the German capital. This is the second time the film, entitled Khodorkovsky, has suffered following the reported robbery of a laptop containing a previous edit.
Although local police say they have no leads, the immediate suspicion is that the theft is politically motivated and forms part of a Kremlin campaign against Russian oligarchs powerful enough to pose a challenge to Vladimir Putin.
Khodorkovsky, 47, was once Russia's wealthiest man; as recently as 2004 he was listed at No 16 on Forbes's worldwide rich list, with a net worth of $15bn (£9.3bn), based...
- 2/7/2011
- by Andrew Pulver
- The Guardian - Film News
A completed cut of a documentary that chronicles the controversial trial and jailing of an oligarch-turned-Kremlin critic has been stolen. The German documentary Khordorkovsky, which follows the fall of Mikhail B Khodorkovsky, was snatched from the Berlin production offices of director Cyril Tuschi. It's the second time material relating to the documentary has been been taken after a laptop containing an earlier version of the film was stolen from a hotel room in Bali, where Tuschi was on holiday.
- 2/7/2011
- Sky Movies
Though it slipped past us somehow the 2011 Berlin Film Festival released the first block of titles from their Panorama section yesterday and there are some very familiar names in there, among them Ryoo Seung-Wan's The Unjust, Jorge Padilha's Elite Squad 2, Angelique Bosio's The Advocate For Fagdom and Hugo Olsson's The Black Power Mixtape - all of which have received coverage here in the pages of Twitch. You want the complete list? Here it is:
Panorama Main Programme + Panorama Special Bu-dang-geo-rae (The Unjust) by Seung-wan Ryoo, Republic of Koreawith Jung-min Hwang, Seung-bum Ryoo, Hae-jin Yoo Chang-Pi-Hae (Ashamed) by Soo-hyun Kim, Republic of Koreawith Hyo-jin Kim, Kkobbi Kim Dance Town by Kyu-hwan Jeon, Republic of Koreawith Mir-an Ra, Seong-tae Oh The Devil's Double by Lee Tamahori, Belgiumwith Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier Dirty Girl by Abe Sylvia, USAwith Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Dwight Yoakam, Mary Steenburgen, Jeremy Dozier...
Panorama Main Programme + Panorama Special Bu-dang-geo-rae (The Unjust) by Seung-wan Ryoo, Republic of Koreawith Jung-min Hwang, Seung-bum Ryoo, Hae-jin Yoo Chang-Pi-Hae (Ashamed) by Soo-hyun Kim, Republic of Koreawith Hyo-jin Kim, Kkobbi Kim Dance Town by Kyu-hwan Jeon, Republic of Koreawith Mir-an Ra, Seong-tae Oh The Devil's Double by Lee Tamahori, Belgiumwith Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier Dirty Girl by Abe Sylvia, USAwith Juno Temple, Milla Jovovich, William H. Macy, Dwight Yoakam, Mary Steenburgen, Jeremy Dozier...
- 1/4/2011
- Screen Anarchy
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