Witnesses - Putin's

: Features a poignant scene where Boris Yeltsin waits by the phone on election night for a call from his successor—a call that never comes .

( Svideteli Putina ) is a 2018 documentary by Vitaly Mansky that offers a rare, "insider-turned-outsider" look at Vladimir Putin’s rise to power . 📽️ The Core Concept Putin's Witnesses

: The title refers to both the public figures in the film—Yeltsin, Gorbachev, and Putin—and the director himself, who later came to view his own work as an act of complicity in creating Putin's image . 🔑 Key Themes & Scenes : Features a poignant scene where Boris Yeltsin

: Reveals how "heartwarming" scenes, like Putin visiting his former teacher, were carefully staged for public consumption . 🌍 Impact and Availability PUTIN'S WITNESSES (SVIDETELI PUTINA) - AFI FEST 🔑 Key Themes & Scenes : Reveals how

The film is built on unique archive footage Mansky shot between 1999 and 2000 . At the time, he was the head of documentaries for Russian state television and was granted "unnervingly intimate" access to film a propaganda piece for Putin’s first campaign .