PUTIN'S WITNESSES

Film Info

Latvia 2019 | 102 min. Director: Vitaly Mansky

There is currently no offer available

PUTIN'S WITNESSES

Synopsis

The events of the film begin on 31 December 1999 when Russia was acquainted with its new President Vladimir Putin. The film is based on unique and strictly documentary testimonies of the true causes and consequences of the operation “Successor”, as a result of which Russia ended up with the President who still rules the country. The protagonists of the film are Mikhail Gorbachev, Boris Yeltsin, Vladimir Putin, and the Russian nation, as always being a silent witness of its own destiny.

Cast & Crew

Director

Vitaly Mansky
Producer

Natalia Manskaia, Gabriela Bussmann, Filip Remunda, Vit Klusak
Screenwriter

Vitaly Mansky
Director of photography

Vitaly Mansky, Sergey Miroshnichenko, Pavel Suhov, Alexandr Dolgin, Vladimir Bashta, Yuriy Ermolin, Vyacheslav Sachkov
Editor (Cut)

Gunta Ikere
Sound

Anrijs Krenbergs
Original Score

Karlis Auzans

Director's comment

To overcome a grave and far-advanced illness it is necessary to make a diagnosis and to study the history of this illness. That was my logic when I conceived a film about the events, which followed the unexpected resignation of Russia’s president Boris Yeltsin and the start of "Operation Successor". I was witness to and participant of this operation, which brought Vladimir Putin to the Moscow throne. My testimony is very important not only for the Russian society – to cure it from an advanced disease, but also for other countries – to prevent them from losing their freedom.

Biography

Vitaly Mansky was born in 1963 in Lviv /Ukraine, USSR.
He graduated from VGIK — All-Russian State Institute of Cinematography in 1989 and became one of the most prominent contemporary Russian documentary filmmakers and producers. He has shot more than 30 films as a director which were screened at festivals world-wide and were awarded several times. As a producer, Vitaly produced films with directors like Renata Litvinova, Alexander Rastorguyev, Sergey Miroshnichenko, Dmitry Zhelkovsky, and Sergei Loznitsa.
In 1996, he launched a project that aims to archive amateur private video files that were shot in the times of the former USSR (from the 30s till the 90s).
Vitaly Mansky is the producer of the national Laurel Leaf award for the best Russian documentary films. He is also the founder and president of Artdocfest — Russian Open Documentary Film Festival for Russian-language creative documentaries.
Since 2014 Vitaly Mansky lives and works in Latvia.

Filmography:
2018 PUTIN’S WITNESSES
2016 CLOSE RELATIONS
2015 UNDER THE SUN
2014 THE BOOK
2013 PIPELINE
2011 MOTHERLAND OR DEATH
2009 NIKOLINA GORA. EPILOGUE
2008 VIRGINITY
2008 DAWN / SUNSET. DALAI LAMA 14
2006 WILD, WILD BEACH
2005 GAGARIN’S PIONEERS
2003 ANATOMY OF T.A.T.U.
2002 BROADWAY. BLACK SEA
2001 TRILOGY ‘RED TSARS. PRESIDENTS OF RUSSIA’:
GORBATCHEV. AFTER THE EMPIRE
YELTSIN. ANOTHER LIFE
PUTIN. LEAP YEAR
1999 PRIVATE CHRONICLES. MONOLOGUE
1995 BLISS
1993 CUTS OF A RECURRENT WAR
1991 LENIN’S BODY
1990-1995 ETUDE ABOUT LOVE
1990 POST
1988 BOOMERANG