For me, thats a very bitter part of this, directorDaniel Rohertells Deadline.
Its very sad that he hasnt gotten to see the film.
One thing I always think of with Navalny is how enthusiastic he was about being a film subject.
‘Navalny’CNN Films
Hes a very curious man and hes very, very curious about the filmmaking process…
I certainly hope Ill get to show it to him one day.
But then he took a trip to Siberia to organize opposition candidates ahead of local elections.
CNN FIlms
As the film shows, Russian doctors who initially treated Navalny denied he had been poisoned.
They attributed his condition to a blood sugar imbalance or other metabolic problem.
Pro-Kremlin commentators accused him of imbibing moonshine.
He was in Vienna collaborating with Roher on another project when he began to dig into the Navalny case.
And obviously this was stunning to hear, Roher recalls.
So, lets look at who these scientists were calling at exactly the time, Grosev says.
And then just around the time, in the middle of the night, when he was actually poisoned.
We found a nest of wasps, Grosev affirms in the documentary, a domestic assassination team.
My directorial prompt to Christo was, Explain it to me like Im a golden retriever.
Thats what Im looking for here, Roher remembers.
The man spilled the beans on the whole operation.
To Roher, the attempted killing of Navalny fits a disturbing pattern.
And in a way, thats exactly what we see playing out in Ukraine.
He is, in his heart, a KGB thug.
And if your worldview is oriented in 1982-KGB-world, you see things differently and you solve problems differently.
Putins bloodlust extends to Grosev, the journalist says he has learned.
Deadline and other outlets have reported that Grosev recently became a wanted man in Russia.
Its the federal search warrant of Russia.
It literally says, For committing the crime under Russian law, Grosev says.
Theres no way to defend yourself publicly because you dont know what youre accused of.
Its a very, very sinister system of [creating] the image of an enemy of the state.
After Navalny recovered in Germany from his poisoning attack, he insisted on returning to Russia in January 2021.
The film shows he was arrested on his arrival.
His fate remains grim.
Roher keeps in perspective all of the awards for the documentary and the possibility of an Oscar nomination.
I equate any attention to the film with attention to Navalny, he says.
And that for me is very meaningful.
