---
title: "Kremlin says Navalny documentary Oscar shows Hollywood 'politicisation'"
description: "March 13 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that the award of an Oscar to a documentary about jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny showed \"a certain element of politicisation\" by Hollywood."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Navalny"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2023-03-13-kremlin-says-navalny-documentary-oscar-shows-hollywood-politicisation/"
published: "2023-03-13T13:49:54"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 188
---

# Kremlin says Navalny documentary Oscar shows Hollywood 'politicisation'

> March 13 (Reuters) - The Kremlin said on Monday that the award of an Oscar to a documentary about jailed Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny showed "a certain element of politicisation" by Hollywood.

By Reuters · Published 13 March 2023, 15:49 SAST

## Key points
- The documentary "Navalny" exposes the Kremlin critic's poisoning with a nerve agent in Siberia and the investigative news outlet Bellingcat's efforts to uncover the truth. Despite not watching the film, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov still found time to criticize it as having a certain element of politicization.
- Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny's documentary "Navalny" won the Academy Award for best feature documentary on Sunday.
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had not watched the film, but that there was a certain element of politicisation of the topic.
- The film shows Navalny working with investigative news outlet Bellingcat to unmask those responsible for his poisoning in 2020.
- Navalny is currently serving 11-1/2 years in a high-security penal colony for fraud and contempt of court charges.

## Content

"Navalny", which won the [Academy Award](https://www.reutersconnect.com/all?search=all%3AL1N35L03Q&linkedFromStory=true) for best feature documentary on Sunday, shows the Kremlin critic recovering in Germany from being poisoned with a nerve agent in Siberia in 2020, and working with the investigative news outlet Bellingcat to unmask those responsible.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said he had not watched the film, but that nevertheless, "I dare to assume that there is of course a certain element of politicisation of the topic".

He said that Hollywood was no stranger to politics, "but I can’t talk about any cinematic merits of this film, because I’m not familiar with it."

In the film, Navalny pinned responsibility for the poisoning episode on a team of agents from the FSB state security service. Russia denied attempting to kill him.

Navalny has long been a thorn in the side of President Vladimir Putin, who takes care to avoid mentioning his name in public. He is now serving combined sentences of 11-1/2 years in a high-security penal colony for fraud and contempt of court on charges that he says were trumped up to silence him.

(Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Kevin Liffey)