On May 31, 2005, Russia's richest man, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, was sent to fester in a Siberian jail on charges of tax evasion. Did his fierce rivalry with Russian powerhouse Vladimir Putin have anything to do with his imprisonment?
German filmmaker Cyril Tuschi certainly thinks so, and in his slick new investigative documentary Khodorkovsky he peels back the layers of political intrigue surrounding this celebrated criminal case.
With key interviews with friends and colleagues, Tuschi charts Khodorkovsky's rise from oil billionaire, to political dissident, and finally to jailbird. Most tantalising of all, Tuschi manages to get an exclusive interview with the prisoner himself.
Khodorkovsky was making headlines before it was even screened, as the film was stolen twice – once in Bali and once a week before its premier at the Berlin Film Festival.
Cyril Tuschi joins Amanda Palmer, Al Jazeera's head of entertainment, to discuss the dangers and thrills of making a film that goes to the beating heart of Russian politics.
Breathing
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| Breathing |
Written and directed by actor turned filmmaker Karl Markovics, Breathing is a sober Austrian drama that finds hope in the bleakest of circumstances.
Roman, 18, is an inmate at a juvenile detention centre on the outskirts of Vienna.
Presented with an opportunity for parole, he endeavours to improve his chances of freedom by taking part in a work-release programme.
Accepting a position in a morgue to wash and dress the recently deceased, Roman embarks on a journey of self-discovery, finding clues about his family heritage in the most unlikely of places.
Lead actor Thomas Schubert, acting in his first feature film, was awarded the 'Best Actor' prize at the Sarajevo Film Festival.
18 Days
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18 Days
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The Jan 25-Feb 11 Egyptian uprising changed the country, and the way the world views the Arab world, forever.
A mixture of rising talent and established filmmakers responded immediately to the revolution, taking to the streets and creating 18 Days: a collection of 10 films from 10 filmmakers, capturing moments of human drama amidst the political turmoil.
With characters ranging from the employees of a Cairo psychiatric institution, to a tailor who locks himself in his shop for the entire revolution, 18 Days provides a sweeping portrait of life in Egypt during the most dramatic political period in living memory.
18 Days premiered at this year's Cannes Film Festival, where Egypt was the festival's first ever country to be invited as a 'Guest of Honour'.
Habemus Papam
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| Habemus Papam |
In Habemus Papam (We Have a Pope), Michel Piccoli stars as a Melville, a hard-working cardinal who is unexpectedly thrust into the limelight when his peers elect him to be the new Pope.
When the Vatican announces 'Habemus Papam!', Melville is completely overwhelmed and runs scared, escaping into hiding.
Wracked with performance anxiety, the Vatican provides the reluctant pontiff with a psychoanalyst, who struggles to get to the bottom of this unusual case.
A delightful comedy that provides a glimpse of a rarely seen world, Habemus Papam has been praised for its warmth, humour and a divine performance from the 85-year-old Piccoli.
Director Nanni Moretti, who won the Palme d'Or in 2001 for his drama The Son's Room, also stars in the film as Melville's psychoanalyst.
This episode of The Fabulous Picture Show can be seen from Friday, August 12, at the following times GMT: Friday: 1930; Saturday: 1430; Sunday: 0430; Monday: 0830.
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