‘Navalny,’ About Russian Opposition Leader, Added as Surprise Film to Sundance Lineup
With the Sundance Film Festival well under way, the festival has added a surprise world premiere to its lineup, “Navalny,” a documentary about Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny.
The film, directed by Daniel Roher, will screen Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. MT as part of the virtual festival, and it will also compete as the 10th and final film in the U.S. documentary competition section of the festival. Tickets for the film are on sale now.
The film discusses how Navalny survived an assassination attempt on his life by poisoning with a lethal nerve agent back in August 2020. It even shows how after he made discoveries about his assassination attempt, he chose to still return home to Russia on Jan. 17, 2021, only to be arrested moments after landing in Moscow tied to a prior suspended sentence.
The film was announced earlier this month, and CNN will broadcast the film in North America later this year while both HBO Max and CNN+ hold the streaming rights. Other distribution rights remain available.
The film is directed by Roher and produced by Diane Becker, Melanie Miller, Shane Boris and Odessa Rae.
“We are delighted to have ‘Navalny’ at this year’s Festival,” Tabitha Jackson, Sundance Festival’s director, said in a statement. “When we saw this film in the early fall we all immediately knew that we wanted it and would wait for it: riveting cinema in the present tense, incredible access, intrepid investigative journalism, a compelling protagonist speaking truth to power – all beautifully edited, directed and produced into a timely non-fiction thriller that deals with the highest of stakes for freedom of expression.”
“Boldly confronting injustice through cinematic storytelling has been threaded into Sundance’s DNA since its inception. My team and I can’t imagine premiering at any other festival. We are thrilled that Sundance audiences will be the first to see our film and witness the extraordinary courage of Alexei Navalny,” Roher added.