25 May 2008

Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case (Bunt. Delo Litvinenko) is a documentary that follows ex-spy Alexander Litvinenko from his forced exile from Russia, to his death from poisoning in November of 2006. On 1 November 2006, Litvinenko suddenly fell ill and was hospitalised. He died three weeks later, becoming a rare victim of lethal polonium-210 radiation poisoning under highly suspicious circumstances. The fact that Litvinenko's revelations about alleged FSB misdeeds were followed two years later by his poisoning led to public accusations that the Russian government was behind his death, resulting in worldwide media coverage.

A British police investigation resulted in several suspects for the murder, but in May 2007, the British Director of Public Prosecutions, Ken Macdonald, announced that his government would seek to extradite Andrei Lugovoi, the chief suspect of the case, from Russia. Russia officially declined to extradite Lugovoi, citing that extradition of citizens is not allowed under the Russian constitution. Russia has said that they could take on the case themselves if Britain provided evidence against Lugovoi but Britain has not handed over any evidence.

Director Andrei Nekrasov had full access to Litvinenko from his arrival in London and Rebellion is a documentary told in Litvinenko's own words including interviews with his widow, friends and alleged killers.

Rebellion: The Litvinenko Case will be released on UK DVD on 30th June 2008 by Soda Pictures at the RRP of £15.99. The film is in Russian with English subtitles. No technical specs for the release are available as yet.