Alexey Navalny film on fighting the Kremlin wins Academy Award

Navalny, 46, fell ill in Siberia in 2020 and was flown to Germany, which said it had found evidence that he had been poisoned with Novichok, a banned nerve agent.

The film Navalny, a look at the Russian dissident who was poisoned with a nerve agent and nearly died, won the Oscar for best documentary.

Director Daniel Roher’s portrayal of Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny features shadowy cops, truth-seeking journalists, conspiracy theories and Soviet-era poisons. It is a film with clear political emotion after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Roher accepted his statue on Sunday saying he dedicated it to Navalny and to all political prisoners around the world.

“Alexey, the world has not forgotten your essential message to all of us: We must not be afraid to oppose dictators and authoritarianism wherever it arises,” Roher said.

Navalny’s wife Yulia Navalnaya joined the director on stage and added: “Alexey, I dream of the day when you will be free and our country will be free. Stay strong, my love.”

Navalny has been a headache for Russian President Vladimir Putin for years. He has issued numerous reports on corruption in Russia and the Putin administration, becoming a popular and inspirational figure among like-minded Russians.

Roher was able to talk to Navalny during his short stay in Berlin in 2020 and early 2021 as he was recovering from poisoning and searching for the truth behind the failed assassination attempt. Media outlets have called Navalny the Kremlin’s fiercest critic, and he seems undeterred by the harassment and arrests he has endured.

The film was a hit at the Sundance Film Festival where it won the Documentary Audience Award and the Festival Favorite Award.

Navalny beat out the other nominees for the documentary: All That Breathes; All the beauty and the bloodshed; Fire of love; and a house made of splinters.

‘Don’t give up’

Navalny, 46, fell ill in Siberia in 2020 and was flown to Germany, which said it had found evidence that he had been poisoned with Novichok, a banned nerve agent.

Western countries claim it was an attempted assassination by the Russian state to silence the outspoken critic. Russia denies any role in his illness, saying it has seen no evidence that he was poisoned.

After recuperating in Germany for five months, Navalny returned to Russia in January 2021. He was arrested immediately upon arrival at Moscow airport and later sentenced to 11.5 years in prison.

Navalny has dismissed the cases against him as fabricated. He is currently being held in a remote penal colony and is reportedly in poor health again.

At the end of the film, Navalny is asked what his message to the Russian people would be if he were killed. “You can’t give up,” he said.