International documentary sales, distribution and production company Dogwoof has acquired international sales rights to “The Face of Power,” directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker James Jones and Grierson, whose credits include “Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes,” “Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn,” “Antidote” and “Fukushima.”
Currently in development, “The Face of Power” has been selected for the IDFA forum, where the project will be presented this month by Dogwoof.
The film, produced by BAFTA winner Sasha Odynova, marks the third collaboration between Dogwoof and Jones, following BIFA and Grierson-nominated “Antidote” and “Fukushima,” which are set to be released next year by Dogwoof.
Told through rare archival footage, “The Face of Power” is a “chilling and immersive” portrait of Vladimir Putin’s rise from obscurity to autocracy. It’s a psychological study of how one man “used television as a weapon to control a nation, deceive the world and lead Russia into war,” Dogwoof said.
The newly discovered footage will be woven through a “hypnotic feed of state media”, accompanied by audio testimonies from those who witnessed his rise and lived under his rule, such as journalists, insiders, dissidents and ordinary citizens. Their voices “cut through the show, offering moments of reflection, sorrow, resistance and warning.”
“The Face of Power” is not just the story of Putin’s rule; it’s the story of how he was perceived – “misunderstood, mythologized and enabled,” Dogwoof said. “It is both a stocktaking of the past and a warning for what lies ahead.”
Oli Harbottle, Dogwoof’s Chief Content Officer, said: “It’s great to collaborate with James again following the success of ‘Antidote’ earlier this year and with the launch of ‘Fukushima’ early next year. With ‘The Face of Power’, we are excited by his creative vision for the project and are confident that it will offer a unique and insightful look at the ever-relevant topic of media manipulation used to consolidate political power.”
Jones and Odynova added: “Putin has rewritten the playbook for modern strongmen – mastering the manipulation of truth and the crushing of dissent – but he remains strangely unknowable. With this epic, cinematic investigative film, we aim to peel back the mythology and reveal the forces that shaped one of the world’s most dangerous dictators. The fact that Putin personally targeted my friend and colleague Christo Grozev has only deepened my determination to make this film.
