INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The U.S.-produced fly-on-the-wall documentary Navalny, which followed the now-jailed Russian anti-corruption advocate and Kremlin critic
Alexei Navalny throughout the after-effects of a poisoning effort in 2020, was chosen for an Academy Award on Tuesday.The film, directed by
Daniel Roher, shows Navalny during his recovery in Berlin from poisoning with nerve agent Novichok and as he prepared to return to Russia
When he flew into Moscow in January 2021, Navalny was instantly jailed for breaching his parole and jailed.Combining original interviews
with Navalny himself, his partner Yulia, daughter Dariya and close assistants, Navalny also captures a journalistic scoop when
investigative press reporter Christo Grozev manages to determine the men involved in the attempt on Navalnys life.The documentarys most
significant moment comes when Navalny, pretending to be an official, calls Konstantin Kudryavstev, one of his prospective assassins.During
the call, the gunman admits to lacing Navalnys underwear with Novichok and lays out how his team had actually prepared the attempted murder
numerous times in an extraordinary scene that even Navalny and close associate Maria Pevchikh seem unable to believe.Pevchikh, who heads the
investigative unit of Navalnys Anti-Corruption Foundation, praised Navalny and the team behind the film in a tweet, calling the nomination
another example of Putins strategies going extremely wrong
Navalny is up against four other movies for the Oscar in the very best Documentary Feature Film classification, consisting of A House
Made of Splinters, which documents a refuge in eastern Ukraine run by a group of females for kids escaping alcohol addiction and abuse.The
only other Russian movie to be nominated for an Academy Award on Tuesday was Haulout, a short documentary that explores the life of
scientist Maxim Chakilev as he observes walrus migration on Russias Arctic shores
Haulout remains in contention for the Best Documentary Short Film award
Oscar winners will be announced at the Academy Awards event in Los Angeles on March 12.
