A German documentary, portraying the “human side” of Prime Minister and presidential candidate Vladimir Putin will be aired on Russian television shortly before the end of the election campaign in the country.
The film "I, Putin" is scheduled to be shown in the night segment on NTV television Friday, only a few hours before Russia goes into “election silence,” a day prior to March 4 presidential elections when any form of election propaganda will be prohibited.
According to Der Spiegel, the documentary, directed by award-winning German filmmaker Hubert Seipel, tends to portray Putin as “a lonely, aging and surprisingly likeable man.”
“The documentary itself is a departure from the official images we are all too familiar with. Instead, it offers a look behind the scenes of power and addresses the question of what exactly it is like to be Vladimir Putin,” Der Spiegel said.
It took Seipel over two years to convince Putin to accept his idea of the documentary.
The documentary was aired earlier in February on German television.
I, Putin is not the first documentary about the Russian prime minister filmed by a foreigner.
BBC showed in January and February a four-part series, Putin, Russia & the West, describing Putin’s eight years as president of Russia and four more as prime minister.
