Oppositionist Alexei Navalny, who is imprisoned in a colony in the Vladimir region, commented on the Oscar award for a film about his poisoning.
Navalny thanked those involved in the creation of the film:
“About the Oscars from the guy who knows everything the latest.
The radio in the cell, as usual, turned on at five in the morning. At six, the first news: they tell in detail about all the winners of the last award, except for documentary films. Good sign, I think.
Closer to dinner they lead to court. I'm on video call and the lawyer shows a piece of paper to my camera.
“I don’t see anything,” I say. After poking his sheet into the camera for some time, the lawyer cannot stand it and says:
Your film won an Oscar.
Sooo strange feelings you experience at this moment.
It is as if these words do not even belong to this world, but, on the other hand, everything here is so strange and crazy that it seems that only they belong to it.
Of course, I am terribly happy and, rejoicing, I try not to forget that it was not me who received the Oscar. These were quite exciting and sometimes dramatic events, but a brilliant team was able to show them in such a way that it was worthy of an Oscar: Daniel Roer, Odessa Ray, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris and many others who worked on the film. Guys, I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart.
Hristo Grozev (I hug you, dude, you are the true star of this film) and Maria Pevchikh - without you all this would not even be at the level of an idea.
Yulia, thank you for participating, supporting and a couple of times did not let me kill the film crew.
Friends and colleagues from FBK - as usual, you did everything, and I just trade in face.
And finally. I repeat, the film is not mine, I did not receive the Oscar, and I am not in the position to dedicate this award to anyone. But I dedicate all my contribution to honest and courageous people, wherever they live, who find the strength day after day to resist the monster of the dictatorship and its constant companion - war.
On March 13, Navalny, a film directed by Canadian director Daniel Roer based on the investigation by The Insider and Bellingcat, won an Oscar in the Best Documentary Feature Film category. In February of this year, the film won the BAFTA Award for Best Documentary.