Putin's Witnesses

From renowned documentarian Vitaly Mansky, the story of Russian president Vladimir's Putin's ascendancy to power. Told through testimonies from Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, and Putin himself.

"On New Year's Eve 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin surprised the world by announcing that he was stepping down and turning the office over to the country's newly appointed Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. The transition called for Putin to serve as acting President until a special election was held three months later. He refrained from the normal campaign tactics of running television commercials or debating his opponents. Instead, his team hired Mansky to follow Putin in office for a television documentary.

"Now Mansky returns to the intimate footage he shot inside Putin's circle over the course of the year 2000 to bring a new perspective on the leader who has played a crucial role in global politics ever since. Mansky's act of bearing witness allows us to better understand the machinations that enabled Putin to consolidate power in this pivotal period." (Toronto International Film Festival)

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