Cathryn Collins "VLAST" (POWER)
Cathryn Collins was in town with her documentary VLAST (POWER). The film was playing at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Collins took time out between screenings to talk about the film. The interview was originally broadcast Tuesday June 22, 2010
In the documentary VLAST (POWER), Cathryn Collins goes where few others have in unearthing the actions and reasons behind the Russian government's systematic campaign at toppling the mega-billionaire oligarchs, chief among them, Mikhail Khodorovsky, the wealthiest man in Russia.
The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a volatile but highly advantageous environment for young Russian businessmen eager to build the fledgling market economy by any means necessary. Striking extraordinary deals with the government to acquire newly privatized industries, a small group of men became phenomenally rich almost overnight. The most successful of these oligarchs was Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who quickly became the wealthiest man in Russia. But Khodorkovsky was invested not only in business, but also in true social reform and a new ideal of an open society, an attitude that ran afoul of the absolute rule of Vladimir Putin. Within months of announcing a deal which would have opened the formerly state-controlled Russian oil industry to investment by Western corporations, Khodorkovsky and his business partners were arrested and jailed for fraud and tax evasion. Tracing Khodorkovsky's dramatic, ambiguous rise to power and subsequent fall at the hands of Putin's KGB-infested government, this probing, deeply troubling documentary reveals a nation still unsure of its commitment to economic and social liberties. Written by Los Angeles Film Festival.
Center Stage with Mark Gordon airs Tuesdays at 7PM (PST) on KXLU Los Angeles, 88.9 FM and streaming live on the internet at www.kxlu.com
For more about Center Stage with Mark Gordon visit www.stageandscreen.com
In the documentary VLAST (POWER), Cathryn Collins goes where few others have in unearthing the actions and reasons behind the Russian government's systematic campaign at toppling the mega-billionaire oligarchs, chief among them, Mikhail Khodorovsky, the wealthiest man in Russia.
The collapse of the Soviet Union led to a volatile but highly advantageous environment for young Russian businessmen eager to build the fledgling market economy by any means necessary. Striking extraordinary deals with the government to acquire newly privatized industries, a small group of men became phenomenally rich almost overnight. The most successful of these oligarchs was Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who quickly became the wealthiest man in Russia. But Khodorkovsky was invested not only in business, but also in true social reform and a new ideal of an open society, an attitude that ran afoul of the absolute rule of Vladimir Putin. Within months of announcing a deal which would have opened the formerly state-controlled Russian oil industry to investment by Western corporations, Khodorkovsky and his business partners were arrested and jailed for fraud and tax evasion. Tracing Khodorkovsky's dramatic, ambiguous rise to power and subsequent fall at the hands of Putin's KGB-infested government, this probing, deeply troubling documentary reveals a nation still unsure of its commitment to economic and social liberties. Written by Los Angeles Film Festival.
Center Stage with Mark Gordon airs Tuesdays at 7PM (PST) on KXLU Los Angeles, 88.9 FM and streaming live on the internet at www.kxlu.com
For more about Center Stage with Mark Gordon visit www.stageandscreen.com
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