Mikhail Khodorkovsky

A damning portrayal of the dirty war between Russian leader Vladimir Putin and the oligarchs--in particular long-imprisoned oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky--Cyril Tuschi's documentary has made its way to the festival circuit despite much skulduggery on the part of those whom the film seeks to expose and embarrass. In the course of making the film, Tuschi and his crew were harassed and threatened, and the final cut of the film was stolen from Tuschi's Berlin office. We hope it arrives here safely! Using a mix of wide-ranging interviews, archival footage and computer animation, Khodorkovsky tells the gripping story of its titular figure, who went from chemistry student to owner of Yukos, the massive Russian oil firm that was privatized in the hairy free-for-all of Boris Yeltsin's rule, making him one of the country's most powerful men before the age of 40. An open critic of Putin who put his money where his mouth was, Khodorkovsky funded human-rights groups, opposition political parties, and a charity called Open Russia while publicly questioning the leader about political corruption. Since 2003, he has been in a Siberian prison, on tax-evasion charges that David Remnick, editor of the New Yorker, called absurdist acts of injustice no more respectable than the railroading of Josef Brodsky

Feature trailer for Khodorkovsky. This exhilarating documentary chronicles Mikhail Khodorkovsky's transformation from a self-proclaimed socialist to a fully realized capitalist -- also recounting the stunning turn of events that made him one of world's most famous political prisoners.

Khodorkovsky -- A documentary about the former owner of Yukos Oil, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and his journey from a socialist believer to a perfect capitalist and subsequently becoming the most known Russian prisoner.

This exhilarating documentary chronicles Mikhail Khodorkovsky's transformation from a self-proclaimed socialist to a fully realized capitalist - also recounting the stunning turn of events that made him one of world's most famous political prisoners. Weaving together in-depth interviews (including the first on-camera exchange with Khodorkovsky since his arrest), archival material, and stylized computer-animated reenactments, Tuschi shows us a man who embodies the paradox that is modern Russia.

Dec. 30, 2010: The U.S. government condemned a Russian judge s sentence of former Russian oil tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky, saying the ruling is an abuse of power. U.S. officials, however, say that President Obama will continue to try to improve relations with Moscow. NBC s Andrea Mitchell reports.