Filmmaker Maxim Pozdorovkin has found a most unusual way of creating a documentary with “Our New President,” one of the opening night films at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Taking archival footage only, from YouTube’s Russia Today (RT) and NTV, the two national and only television stations, this revolutionary filmmaker brings us behind the curtain to experience the power of the media upon the Russian people. Video clips from these shows and from uploaded content posted by Russian citizens, we are brought back to the 1990’s when Hillary Clinton visited Russia. The story is murky after this point as RT found that Hillary was cursed after this time, invoking fainting spells and other medical conditions. The ridiculousness of the stories purported and supported by the handpicked newscasters would ordinarily make you laugh if the consequences weren’t so dire.
The film continues along a time line to bring us to the past year’s election, defining Trump’s rise to power. We witness the democracy of the newspaper in Russia become a spokesperson for the government, threatening those who dare to go against Putin. From ordinary citizens to representatives living here in the U.S to high ranking Russian officials, we are privy to eye-opening footage that if nothing else, makes you wonder about the realities we have come to accept in our world.
“Our New President” gives us an interesting perspective from which to view Trump and Clinton as well as punctuating the need for democracy within our news organizations. Without this, we could end up looking at our Chakra’s and our horoscopes to determine the next global decision.
Be sure to check out this cutting-edge style of documentary and then decide for yourself what’s true, what’s real, and what’s an alternative fact. If that doesn’t work, Mercury is in retrograde right now, so hold off on any major decisions.