Putin's Witnesses

Through testimonies from Gorbachev, Yeltsin, and the current Russian president himself, Vitaly Mansky tells the story of how Putin rose to power and has held his position for nearly two decades. On New Year's Eve 1999, Russian President Boris Yeltsin surprised the world by announcing that he was stepping down and turning the office over to the country's newly appointed Prime Minister, Vladimir Putin. The transition called for Putin to serve as acting President until a special election was held three months later. He refrained from the usual campaign tactics of running television commercials or debating his opponents. Instead, his team hired filmmaker Vitaly Mansky to follow Putin in office for a television documentary. Now Mansky returns to the intimate footage he shot inside Putin's circle over the course of the year 2000 to bring a new perspective on the leader who has played a crucial role in global politics ever since.