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The Putin System (12A)

• Consumer Advice: Contains news footage of rioting, bloody victims and sex
• Run time: 1 hour 38 mins

• Genre: Documentary
• Release date: 11th July 2008

• Starring: Vladimir Putin, Boris Berevovsky, Garry Kasparov
• Directed by: Jean-Michel Carré

• Distributor: Mercury Media

Plot Synopsis

The Putin System is a new investigative documentary from acclaimed filmmakers Jean-Michel Carré and Jill Emery which charts 30 years in the socio-political history of Russia through the personal development of Vladimir Putin.

Winner of this year’s Grand Prix prize in Paris, this ground-breaking documentary chronicles the remarkable life of Putin, a man who is not afraid to make harsh decisions and holds a secret purpose to restore the old Russia of his dreams.

A backroom bureaucrat in the KGB, Putin waited patiently and played by all the rules of the game in order to gain power and by March 2000 he had orchestrated a new system. Putin turned against the oligarchy that supported him and turned their wealth into state-run corporations designed to finance this dream of a new Soviet empire.

He later re-ignited the war in Chechnya in the name of Russian sovereignty and launched a crackdown on political opposition. To many the former KGB agent is more powerful than ever before and any opponents to The Putin System are seen as the enemy. Co-director Jill Emery believes UK audiences will be amazed by the facts unearthed:

“We couldn’t have asked for a better character for a political thriller. He gave us all the necessary material to build a documentary with an incredible taste of fiction which turned out to be more powerful than anything our imaginations could have conjured up.”