Khodorkovsky

For many young Russians, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the former head of oil giant Yukos, is someone who stole a lot of money from their country. Others see him as martyr, who stood in President Vladimir Putin's way and was therefore "removed" for political reasons to a Siberian jail, where his sentence was recently extended by another six years in what was most probably a trumped-up trial. But why did Russia's richest man return to the country from abroad when he had been given clear signals that he would be arrested and convicted? This was the question that was the genesis of this sophisticated filmic portrait of Mikhail Khodorkovsky by Cyril Tuschi. He takes an investigative approach and uses black-and-white animated sequences to examine the circumstances surrounding the entire case, and even succeeds in recording a short interview with Khodorkovsky himself (the only one he has given during his imprisonment and court hearings). By way of interviews with family members, colleagues and politicians, the filmmaker tries to ascertain the real reasons behind Khodorkovsky's detention. (One World)