Le Système Poutine

Former KGB man, Vladimir Putin, has joined the list of the most authoritarian world leaders, as the current president of Russia. This film delves deep into the aspects of his personality and the strategic events which destined him to emerge from the shadows and to coldly and methodically construct a system in Russia in which the former KGB and Putin's henchmen have privatized the state, monopolized the mass media, thwarted political opposition, and replaced freedom of speech with a consumerist gulag. In this system, eliminating enemies of the state has no territorial bounds while oil and gas have become Putin's weapons, his empire and his challenge to the world. Interviews with various officials, politicians, scholars, and exiled dissidents, are interwoven with clips of archival footage, animated sequences, and political paintings. Black and white images of tanks and missiles, as well as scenes from movies about the secret service that inspired Putin as a young man, are juxtaposed with colour images of presidential television appearances, political ceremonies, and oil field landscapes. Beginning his desire to join the KGB in his school days, this film follows Putin's political ascension through strategic promotions, up until his current preparations for the upcoming 2008 elections. (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)