"Putin" - a new English-language feature film by Polish director, Patryk Vega, AIO Studios

WARSAW, Poland, Feb. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Patryk Vega, one of the most popular directors in contemporary Polish cinema, has made a feature film entitled "Putin" using deep fake technology. It shows the life of the Russian president from his violence-stricken childhood in Georgia to the unfounded invasion against Ukraine. "Putin" is due to be released internationally in the spring.

Patryk Vega is a Polish director whose films have enjoyed continued interest for years. He takes up difficult and controversial topics which are at the same time up to date. His most recent production is a political thriller about Vladimir Putin.

"Our film is an unprecedented biography spanning 60 years of Putin's life. It starts when Putin is 10 years old and continues through his political career. The movie presents the armed conflict in Chechnya, terrorist attacks in Dubrovka Theatre or Beslan, and the most tragic events in Ukraine, such as the ones in Bucha, Irpin and Mariupol," said Patryk Vega.

The film authors used deep fake technology. It is based on artificial intelligence algorithms and allows the placement of another person's image on an actor's face. "It was difficult, because we obviously couldn't get Putin to come to our studio to train artificial intelligence to mimic him perfectly. Materials from Kremlin were not enough to imitate the figure in cinema-grade resolution. Luckily, we succeeded after eight months of trials," said the Polish director.

He stresses that his "Putin" is to provide western audiences with a key to understand contemporary Russia. "My ambition was to translate the culture of the East to the language of the West in a way that is comprehensible for the rest of the world,"  explained Patryk Vega.

The film is currently being screened during closed shows for film industry representatives. The teaser was presented during the American Film Market in Santa Monica, a major international film industry event, where it enjoyed considerable interest of foreign distributors. "The Hollywood Reporter" has written that it is one of the most notable upcoming premières.

A scene from the film has recently been screened in Ukraine, evoking intense reactions in viewers. "The largest Ukrainian distributor decided to distribute the film not only in Ukraine but also in countries where the Ukrainian emigration is particularly numerous," added the Polish director. 

Film materials:

01 - PUTIN_UkraineScreeningEvent_FeatureFilmHighlight

02 - PUTIN_FeatureFilmScene_ExclusivePreview

03 - PUTIN_OfficialTeaser_FeatureFilm

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