Citizen K

Last updated
Citizen K
Citizen K poster.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Alex Gibney
Produced by
  • John Battsek
  • Alex Gibney
  • P. J. van Sandwijk
  • George Chignell
  • Erin Edeiken [1]
Cinematography
Edited byMichael J. Palmer
Music by
  • Robert Logan
  • Ivor Guest
Distributed by Greenwich Entertainment [2]
Release date
  • 22 November 2019 (2019-11-22)
Running time
128 minutes
LanguagesEnglish, Russian
Box office$145,969 [3] [4]

Citizen K is a 2019 documentary film about Mikhail Khodorkovsky, written and directed by Alex Gibney. [5] [6] [7] It is a film about post-Soviet Russia [8] featuring Khodorkovsky, Anton Drel, Maria Logan, Alexei Navalny, Tatyana Lysova, Leonid Nevzlin, Igor Malashenko and Derk Sauer. [9]

Citizen K was financed by Amazon. [8] It had its world premiere at Venice Film Festival [8] and was part of the official selection at Venice Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. [10]

The film received generally positive reviews from critics. As of October 2021, 95% of the 59 reviews compiled on Rotten Tomatoes are positive, with an average score of 7.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "Citizen K sees documentarian Alex Gibney training his sights on post-Soviet Russia, with engrossing -- and unsettling -- results." [11] Gibney received a nomination at the 72nd Writers Guild of America Awards for Best Documentary Screenplay, losing the award to his own film The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley . [12]

Related Research Articles

<i>The Return</i> (2003 film) 2003 film

The Return is a 2003 Russian drama film directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and released internationally in 2004.

Alex Gibney American film director and producer

Philip Alexander Gibney is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, Esquire magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time".

<i>Taxi to the Dark Side</i> 2007 American film

Taxi to the Dark Side is a 2007 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney, and produced by Gibney, Eva Orner, and Susannah Shipman. It won the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature. It focuses on the December 2002 killing of an Afghan taxi driver named Dilawar, who was beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in extrajudicial detention and interrogated at a black site at Bagram air base.

<i>12</i> (2007 film) 2007 Russian film

12 is a 2007 legal drama film by Russian director, screenwriter, producer and actor Nikita Mikhalkov. The film is a Russian-language remake of Sidney Lumet's 1957 film 12 Angry Men, which in turn was based on Reginald Rose's 1955 stage play, Twelve Angry Men, itself based on Rose's 1954 teleplay of the latter's same name.

<i>Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson</i> 2008 American film

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson is a 2008 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. It details Hunter S. Thompson's landmark writings on music and politics. Friends and family provide interviews to help describe the mythos of Hunter and his life.

<i>Fuel</i> (film) 2008 American film

Fuel is a 2008 documentary film directed by Josh Tickell and produced by Greg Reitman, Dale Rosenbloom, Daniel Assael, Darius Fisher, and Rebecca Harrell Tickell.

<i>Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God</i> 2012 American film

Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God is a 2012 documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. The film details the first known protest against clerical sex abuse in the United States by four deaf men. It features the voices of actors Jamey Sheridan, Chris Cooper, Ethan Hawke and John Slattery, who provide the voices of the deaf interviewees.

The Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay is one of three screenwriting Writers Guild of America Awards focused specifically for film. The award is presented to the best screenplay of the year for a documentary feature. It has been presented annually since the 57th Writers Guild of America Awards in 2005. Alex Gibney is the only person to win multiple awards, winning four. Gibney also holds the record for nominations with ten.

<i>We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks</i> 2013 American film

We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks is a 2013 American independent documentary film about the organization established by Julian Assange, and people involved in the collection and distribution of secret information and media by whistleblowers. Directed by Alex Gibney, it covers a period of several decades, and includes background material. Gibney received his fifth nomination for Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America Awards for this film.

<i>The Armstrong Lie</i> 2013 film

The Armstrong Lie is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney about the cyclist Lance Armstrong. Originally titled The Road Back, the film takes its name from "Le Mensonge Armstrong", the headline of the August 23, 2005 issue of the French newspaper L'Équipe. The film was screened out of competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival and in the Special Presentation section at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

<i>Going Clear</i> (film) 2015 film by Alex Gibney

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is a 2015 documentary film about Scientology. Directed by Alex Gibney and produced by HBO, it is based on Lawrence Wright's book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief (2013). The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. It received widespread praise from critics and was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning three, including Best Documentary. It also received a 2015 Peabody Award and won the award for Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America.

<i>Prophets Prey</i> 2015 American documentary film

Prophet's Prey is a 2015 American documentary directed and written by Amy J. Berg. The film follows Warren Jeffs, the president of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, who is now running the religion from the confines of the Texas state prison, serving out a life sentence, for the rape of young girls. The film is an adaption of the 2011 book of the same name by Sam Brower, who also serves as a producer on the film. Ron Howard serves as an executive producer under his Imagine Entertainment banner.

<i>Zero Days</i> 2016 film

Zero Days is a 2016 American documentary film directed by Alex Gibney. It was selected to compete for the Golden Bear at the 66th Berlin International Film Festival.

<i>Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town</i> 2017 film

Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town is a 2017 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Christian Papierniak. The film stars Mackenzie Davis as a woman at rock bottom who must find her way across Los Angeles in order to crash her ex-boyfriend's engagement party. The film had its world premiere at the Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17, 2017. It was theatrically released in the United States by Shout! Studios on June 22, 2018.

<i>The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley</i> 2019 American documentary film

The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is a 2019 American documentary film, directed and produced by Alex Gibney. The film revolves around Elizabeth Holmes and her former company Theranos. It is considered a companion piece to the book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup.

<i>The Kingmaker</i> (film) 2019 documentary film written and directed by Lauren Greenfield

The Kingmaker is a 2019 documentary film written and directed by Lauren Greenfield, featuring the political career of Imelda Marcos with a focus on the Marcos family's efforts to rehabilitate the family's image and to return to political power, including her plans to see her son, Bongbong, become President of the Philippines, and the alliance that Bongbong and Imee Marcos established with Rodrigo Duterte in his bid to win the 2016 Philippine presidential election.

<i>Crazy, Not Insane</i> 2020 American documentary film

Crazy, Not Insane is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Alex Gibney. It follows the research of psychiatrist Dr. Dorothy Otnow Lewis who studied the psychology of murders. It is narrated by Laura Dern.

<i>Totally Under Control</i> 2020 film about the Trump administrations handling of the COVID-19 pandemic

Totally Under Control is a 2020 American documentary film directed and produced by Alex Gibney, Ophelia Harutyunyan and Suzanne Hillinger, from a screenplay by Gibney. It follows the Trump administration's response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, often comparing the American response to that of South Korea. It was released on October 13, 2020, by Neon.

<i>Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes</i> 2018 American film

Divide and Conquer: The Story of Roger Ailes is a 2018 American documentary film, directed and produced by Alexis Bloom. It follows the rise and fall of conservative media mogul Roger Ailes. Alex Gibney serves as an executive producer under his Jigsaw Productions banner.

<i>The First Wave</i> (film) 2021 American documentary film by Matthew Heineman

The First Wave is a 2021 American documentary film, directed and produced by Matthew Heineman. The film follows a hospital in New York City, as it battles the COVID-19 pandemic. Alex Gibney serves as an executive producer.

References

  1. Lodge, Guy (31 August 2019). "Venice Film Review: 'Citizen K'" . Retrieved 2019-11-18.
  2. "Alex Gibney Doc 'Citizen K' Sells to Greenwich Entertainment, Will Get Oscar Push (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  3. "Citizen K (2019)". The Numbers . Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  4. "Citizen K (2019)". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved March 6, 2020.
  5. Bradshaw, Peter (3 October 2019). "Citizen K review – strange tale of the oligarch who became Putin's nemesis". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-11-09 via www.theguardian.com.
  6. Lang, Brent (28 October 2019). "Alex Gibney's 'Citizen K' Documentary About Putin Adversary Gets Trailer (Exclusive)". Variety. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  7. Maher, Kevin (9 October 2019). "Putin's enemy Mikhail Khodorkovsky on Citizen K, the film that tells his story". ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2019-11-09 via www.thetimes.co.uk.
  8. 1 2 3 Lattanzio, Ryan (30 September 2019). "Alex Gibney's Anti-Putin Portrait 'Citizen K' Gets Awards Release From 'Free Solo' Distributor" . Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  9. Halligan, Fionnuala (2019-08-31). "'Citizen K': Venice Review". Screen. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
  10. "British Council Film: Citizen K". film.britishcouncil.org. Retrieved 2019-11-09.
  11. "Citizen K (2019)". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango . Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  12. Lindhal, Chris (1 February 2020). "Writers Guild Awards 2020: 'Parasite' and 'JoJo Rabbit' Win Screenplay Awards". IndieWire. Retrieved 3 February 2020.