'Alexei, world hasn't forgotten your message': When Navalny director dedicated Oscar win to political prisoner
Documentary on Alexei Navalny
Alexei Navalny, a strong critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin has died, as reported by the local media. The 47-year-old Russian opposition leader died in Jail where he was serving a 19-year-sentence.
"Navalny felt bad after a walk, almost immediately losing consciousness. Medical staff arrived immediately and an ambulance team was called. Resuscitation was carried out but did not yield positive results. Paramedics confirmed the death. Cause is being established," the prison authorities said.
Navalny had been imprisoned in Russia since March 2021 after he returned to his homeland after recovering from Novichok nerve agent poisoning in Germany, which was also subject of the Daniel Roher's 2022 documentary Navalny.
The doc, which was shot when Navalny was recovering from the poisoning until his arrest, won best documentary feature film at the 2023 Oscars.
“Alexei, the world has not forgotten your vital message to us all": Daniel Roher.
At the 95th Academy Awards, Navalny, a doc-film that explores the thrilling life of Russian former presidential candidate, Alexey Navalny, won the Oscar for best documentary feature.
In March, Roher accepted the trophywith Navalny’s wife Yulia and his children Dasha and Zakhar by his side, as he went on to dedicate the trophy to the Russian political figure.
“I would like to dedicate this award to Navalny, to all political prisoners around the world,” said Roher. “Alexei, the world has not forgotten your vital message to us all. We cannot, we must not be afraid to oppose dictators and authoritarianism wherever it rears its head,” he said as per THR.
At the Academy stage, Yulia talkedabout his husband, “My husband is in prison just for telling the truth. My husband is in prison just for defending democracy.”
She added, “Alexei, I am dreaming of the day when you will be free and our country will be free. Stay strong, my love.”
Backstage, Roher said that he only wantsNavalny out of prison. “I want to make sure that Navalny gets out of prison one day, [that] he survives this ordeal.” He said, “Navalny should be free, that’s [what] I want the world to remember today.”
More about the documentary Navalny
The one-hour 30-minute documentary revolves around Alexie Navalny's assassination attempt by poisoning with a Novichok nerve agent during a flight from Tomsk to Moscow.
The documentary won big for Best Political Documentary at the 7th Critics' Choice Documentary Awards and best documentary at the 76th BAFTA awards ceremony.
