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Director Daniel Roher's film "Navalny", about
the poisoning that nearly killed Russia's most prominent
opposition figure and his detention upon returning to Moscow in
2021, won the Oscar for best feature documentary on Sunday.
In a series of tweets released by his supporters, Navalny said
the early morning radio news bulletin in the penal colony where
he is serving an 11-1/2-year sentence had omitted the
documentary category from its report on the Oscar ceremony.
"A good sign," Navalny said he had thought to himself.
But he only received confirmation that the film had won when he
attended a court session by video-link and his lawyer gave him
the news.
"Of course I'm terribly happy and, as I rejoice, I try not to
forget that it wasn't me who got the Oscar," he said, praising
Roher, his own close aide Maria Pevchikh, and Bulgarian
investigative journalist Christo Grozev - "the true star of this
film".
He thanked his wife Yulia for supporting him "and a couple of
times stopping me from killing the film crew".
Navalny finished by saying: "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 dictatorship and
its constant companion - war."
In the film, Navalny and Grozev pinned responsibility for the
poisoning episode on a team of agents from the FSB state
security service.
Russia has denied attempting to kill him. On Monday the Kremlin
said that the award showed "a certain element of politicisation"
in Hollywood.
After returning from Germany, where he recovered from the
poisoning, Navalny was immediately detained. He is now serving
time on charges of fraud and contempt of court that he says were
trumped up to silence him.
(Writing by Kevin Liffey; Editing by Nick Macfie)
(Photo: Yulia Navalny, wife of jailed dissident
Alexei Navalny, speaks next to her daughter Daria and director
Daniel Roher after "Navalny" was awarded for Best Documentary
Feature Film during the Oscars show at the 95th Academy Awards
in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, U.S., March 12, 2023.
REUTERS/Carlos Barria)
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