It started as a possible case
of food poisoning but within
weeks turned into a grim
spectacle of enormous
political proportions:
Aleksander Litvinenko, former
member of the Russian secret
service, died in his place of
residence London last
November, after having been
poisoned with a radioactive
substance.The search for themore

It started as a possible case
of food poisoning but within
weeks turned into a grim
spectacle of enormous
political proportions:
Aleksander Litvinenko, former
member of the Russian secret
service, died in his place of
residence London last
November, after having been
poisoned with a radioactive
substance.The search for the
possible perpetrators lead to
a political difficult
situation that reminded us of
the dark days of the Cold
War.Three years ago Aleksander
Litvinenko told his life story
to documentary maker Jos De
Putter. It is a wild tale full
of conspiracies, assassination
attempts and imputations.
Litvinenko talks about his
time with the secret service,
about his experience in
Chechnya, and in particular
about the series of bomb
attacks on Russian territory
that led to the seizure of
power by Vladimir Putin.
According to Litvinenko those
attacks were the work of the
secret service. After
Litvinenko's funeral in
December 2006, Backlight spoke
to Litvinenko's widow. Marina
Litvinenko is writing a book
about her husband. The book
will be published in May 2007
and the film rights have
already been sold to Columbia
Pictures. In this unique
interview, she speaks about
how they first met, how they
fled to England and she speaks
about Aleksander´s death
agony.We also see Litvinenko's
father Walter, with Chechen
leader and Litvinenko's
closest friend Akhmed Zakayev
and the prominent Russian
exile Vladmir Bukovsky, also a
friend of Litvinenko. The
result is an impressive
55-minute portrait of a former
spy whose death brought him
worldwide fame.Directors: Jos
de Putter and Masja
NovikovaVPRO Backlight 2007For
more info, please visit:
http://www.vpro.nl/programma/t
egenlic...

Category Film & Animation

Tags litvinenko, putin, Russia, KGB, FSB, murder, spy, death, chechnya, Zakayev, Bukovsky