EXCLUSIVE: France’s Mediawan Rights has grabbed rights to The Rise of Wagner and will launch the European two-part feature at Hot Docs.
The French doc, from director Benoît Bringer, looks into the paramilitary Wagner Group, who many believe is a de facto private army of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
As part of the Hot Docs Official Selection, it will get its world premiere at Hot Docs in Canada on May 1 as a special presentation, with Mediawan beginning sales at that point. Watch the trailer above.
The Rise of Wagner follows Russian journalists and international investigators on dangerous quests for truth. They speak with relatives of Wagner’s to reveal the shadowy army takes direct orders from the Kremlin. One focus is the beheading of Syrian detainee Mohammed Taha-al Ismail, whose killing is being brought before the courts.
The trailer begins with the story of Russian journalists killed in the Central African Republic. A voiceover states, “These guys were simply professionally murdered,” before an expert explains The Wagner Group is “composed of Russian mercenaries.”
The film comes from Forbidden Films in coproduction with Arte France, the CNC, Procirep and ANGOA (Agence Nationale de Gestion des Œuvres Audiovisuelles). Laurent Richard is producer and executive producer of the doc.
Director Bringer’s previous doc, The Caviar Connection, was selected for Hot Docs in 2021. It won Political Film of the Year at the Cinema for Peace Awards 2022 and got a Best Documentary Special Mention at the Palm Springs International Film Festival last year.
