Politzek, the voices that challenge the Kremlin (2025)

In Russia, criticizing the war in Ukraine or Vladimir Putin’s regime has become a crime. Thousands of ordinary citizens are being arrested, tried, and imprisoned. They are called “Politzek”: political prisoners. Filmed clandestinely over the course of more than a year, Politzek gives a platform to those who, despite the fear, continue to speak out against Putin’s repressive Russia. Through the intersecting stories of a teenager sentenced to five years in prison for criticizing the government on social media, a young artist jailed for placing anti-war stickers, a human rights activist, and two theater directors facing Kafkaesque trials, the film unveils the machinery of state repression in Russia. With rare footage, broken yet unyielding voices, this is a story of silenced resistance.

Released Sept. 9, 2025 90 min None+

Genres: Documentary, Drama

Keywords: tmdb.resistance, tmdb.anti-war-protest, tmdb.russia, tmdb.russian-invasion-of-ukraine-2022, tmdb.political-prisoners, tmdb.anti-war-activist, tmdb.state-repression + 11 more, tmdb.politics, tmdb.totalitarian-regime, tmdb.protest, tmdb.dictatorship, tmdb.justice, tmdb.human-rights, tmdb.russian-politics, tmdb.russian-leaders, tmdb.political-documentary, tmdb.communist-regime, tmdb.authoritarian-regime