On January 19, 2021, a day after the arrest of the Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny, a documentary was released on his YouTube channel “Palace for Putin. The Story of the Biggest Bribe”. The production brings closer the investigation of the residence of President Vladimir Putin on Cape Idokopas on the Black Sea. The authors of the film report that the property is currently the most expensive property in the world. Its value is estimated at 100 billion rubles (i.e. about five billion zlotys) – the construction of the facility was to be financed with money secretly siphoned off from the state treasury.
Documents about Putin. Where to watch them?
“Can you imagine the Principality of Monaco? It’s a small, but separate country. And here we are talking about a property the size of 39 principalities of Monaco. It was built so that it could not be reached by land, sea or air” – says the lector in during the movie. According to Navalny’s findings, Putin’s residence covers 7,800 hectares. The opposition activist maintains that “it is the most guarded place in Russia, or rather a state within a state.”
The author also explains: “This film is not only research, but in a sense also a psychological portrait. Because I really want to understand how an ordinary Soviet officer could turn into a madman overcome with a craving for money and luxuries and ready to kill and destroy the country in the name of his chest with with gold “. This is also how Navalny describes how, back in the 1980s, the future president of Russia established contacts with people who would become his main and illegal sponsors in the future, analyzes the beginnings of his political career and, inter alia, describes how, while still the head of the FSB, he helped corrupt officials avoid the legal consequences of their frauds.
The production with Polish translation was broadcast by TVP Info on January 24, 2021. The movie was made in Russian, but is still available on YouTube with English subtitles. Currently (as of February 24, 2022) it has 121 845 757 views. Already half an hour after it appeared on the web, it had half a million views, and after one day the counter showed 25 million views.
There is also a famous documentary about how Vladimir Putin came to power on December 31, 1999 “Putin’s Witnesses” directed by Vitaly Manski, one of the most recognized contemporary documentary filmmakers. He is known, among others from the painting “Under the Care of the Eternal Sun”, the 13th Millennium Docs Against Gravity also won. The director “was the head of the documentary department of Russian public television as the country transitioned from the Yeltsin era to Putin’s authoritarian regime. He witnessed Putin take the first steps to tackle Yeltsin’s democratic reforms. Based on unique 1999-2000 footage, eyewitness accounts and of his own experience, he created an extremely intimate portrait of Vladimir Putin and the turning point in the history of Russia. Today the director himself lives in Latvia, and most of Putin’s electoral staff are either dead or live outside Russia “- summarizes the vFilm website will be available there until April 1, 2022 year.
You can also watch it on the website here. The website offers a one-time access for PLN 9.50 or a subscription for several films from its resources. The option is advantageous in that it is also available on the same service directed by Sergei Loznica, who was awarded for the best director in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
“The action of the film takes place in the Donbas, the eastern region of Ukraine, controlled by numerous criminal groups. A hybrid war is underway – a conflict between the Ukrainian army powered by volunteers and separatist militants supported by Russian troops. Sergey Łoźnica takes us on a journey through Novorossiya – a ghost state, in which the soldiers do not know who is in charge of them, and the court is held in the street in the form of public lynchings. Here, propaganda is considered truth, war is peace, and hatred is declared as love. The only way to survive is to laugh … “- we read in the distributor’s description.
Polish documentaries about Putin online
Journalist Barbara Włodarczyk For many years he has been dealing with international journalism, especially the subject of the former USSR countries. From 2004 to 2009, she was a correspondent for TVP in Moscow, viewers perfectly know her original series of reports “Szerokie Tory”. He also makes documentaries, a significant part of which can be seen at vod.tvp.pl. The TVP collection includes, among others her from 2014. “Who loves Putin and for what? How do they show their love? How much are they ready to endure for him? To understand this, the author of the film visits three different places – Moscow, Crimea and the so-called glubinka, i.e. the Russian province. In Moscow, her guide is 27- the year-old Zhenya, who made a film about Putin as part of the pro-Kremlin organization Network, in Sevastopol – Eduard, a former investigator who left the militia a few years ago because he did not want to write reports in Ukrainian, and in the village of Zamtyie – a retired nurse Valentina “- we read in abstract. Because, as Włodarczyk notes, Putin “invariably enjoys the support of the majority of Russians. And the more criticized by the West, the higher its rankings, and after the annexation of Crimea, it breaks records.” The phenomenon of the almost absurd support for the leader was also analyzed in the document “from 2018.
Why Russians do not mind war, and even strive for it, Włodarczyk analyzed in turn in the film made in 2015 “”. “Why do Russians think that the war is holy? Are they ready to defend their own interests at any cost? What do they think about the involvement of their soldiers in Donbas? Answers to these questions are provided by, among others, a participant in the blockade of Leningrad, soldiers who fought in Afghanistan and Chechnya, as well as relatives of the Russian volunteer soldier killed in Donbass “- the short summary announces. The film is available on vod.tvp.pl with Polish subtitles for the deaf.
Documentary films about contemporary Russia
ARTE TV also provides online access to documentaries about Russia. In the ARTE Reportage series, the latest document is available on the website “ directed by Vladimir Vasak and Elyzaveta Zamyslova from 2021. They explain: “Thirty years after the collapse of the USSR, Vladimir Putin’s Russia is trying to strengthen its influence through presence in Ukraine or Georgia. In the report we look at how rhetoric about a strong state ready to rebuild an old alliance around itself is used for this purpose, as well as about a threatened a homeland that must be defended at all costs. ” Movie available comes in six language versions: with Polish subtitles, German dubbing, German subtitles for the deaf, French dubbing and subtitles for the deaf. You can also turn on subtitles in Italian, Spanish or English.
The website also includes a document Summary of the plot says: “According to Vladimir Putin, the collapse of the USSR was one of the greatest geopolitical catastrophes of the 20th century. This was when fifteen countries – including Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania – forged new ties of dependence on Russia. of them developed a democracy according to the rules of Western Europe. But in Central Asia, former senior party officials turned into autocratic leaders. “
Besides, you can also view the document i. Here, the authors explain: “Vladimir Putin likes to promote himself in the context of huge projects: bridges, highways or rail connections. In our analysis, however, we show that Russia has two faces: modern – the one symbolized by Moscow or Saint Petersburg – and inept – struggling with poverty, aging society and weakened sanctions. “
Read more about Russia’s attack on Ukraine:
Source: Gazeta
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
