Alexei Navalny documentary to premiere at Sundance Tuesday night

In 'NAVALNY', filmmaker Daniel Roher reveals a courageous and controversial would-be president at the precipice of sacrificing everything in order to bring reform to his homeland. Photo: Sundance Institute

PARK CITY, Utah — On Monday the Sundance Institute announced Navalny as the final film in the U.S. Documentary Competition program of the 2022 film festival.

The documentary thriller about Russian opposition leader and anti-corruption activist Alexei Navalny is set to premiere on Tuesday, Jan. 25 at 6 pm MT.

“Boldly confronting injustice through cinematic storytelling has been threaded into Sundance’s DNA since its inception,” the film’s director Daniel Roher said in a statement about the surprise premiere.

“My team and I can’t imagine premiering at any other festival. We are thrilled that Sundance audiences will be the first to see our film and witness the extraordinary courage of Alexei Navalny.”

In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned in Siberia by agents with Russia’s military intelligence agency, according to Bellingcat.

In January 2021, a group partnered with Navalny, called the Anti-Corruption Foundation, published a viral video showcasing a $1 billion coastal “palace” they allege belongs to Russian President Vladimir Putin, acquired through bribes.

Navalny survived the poisoning and decided to return to Russia despite his oppositional nature towards Putin. He was arrested early in 2021 and is currently serving a three-and-a-half-year sentence at a prison camp.

The film announcement comes as tensions between Russia and the United States increase over fears of a Russian incursion into Ukraine.

CNN Films and HBO Max commissioned the film. It will air on their streaming platforms at a later date.

Roher’s feature documentary debut, Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band, opened the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival was executive produced by Martin Scorsese and Ron Howard.

“When we saw this film in the early fall, we all immediately knew that we wanted it and would wait for it: riveting cinema in the present tense, incredible access, intrepid investigative journalism, a compelling protagonist speaking truth to power — all beautifully edited, directed and produced into a timely non-fiction thriller that deals with the highest of stakes for freedom of expression,” Sundance Film Festival Director Tabitha Jackson said in a statement.