Khodorkovsky Premiere in Poland
The critically-acclaimed documentary on Mikhail Khodorkovsky had its preview screening in Poland on Friday, October 14. The event included a Q&A session with Mikhail Khodorkovsky's son, Pavel Khodorkovsky. The film by German director Cyril Tuschi received outstanding reviews during its first showing at the Berlin Film Festival earlier this year and features a video interview with Khodorkovsky, conducted through the bars of his glass cage, during the second YUKOS trial in Moscow last year - the only video interview with Khodorkovsky taken during the trial.
Hailed by the New Yorker as "a document of high political and moral moment, one that could embarrass Russia's ruling clique with revelations of official misdeeds and abuses," the film was shown at at the cinema Kultura in Warsaw.
Earlier this year Jerzy Buzek, the President of the European Parliament, issued a strong message ahead of a screening of the film at the European Parliament. President Buzek emphasized the Parliament's solidarity with Khodorkovsky and his family:
"The case of Mikhail Khodorkovsky has become a symbol of the systemic problems relating to law and order and the human rights crisis in today's Russia....Mr. Khodorkovsky has become a symbol for many people in Russia struggling to deal with problems that are similar to this, albeit on a different scale". Buzek also referred to the fact that he brought up the case in his meetings with "President Medvedev and other government representatives".
The film is now showing in cinemas across Poland.