By Dasha Litvinova
TALLINN, Estonia (AP) --Imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny said Wednesday he was "terribly glad" that a film detailing his poisoning and political activism won the Oscar for best documentary feature.
In a series of tweets that appeared on his account on Wednesday, the politician congratulated director Daniel Roher and others involved in the making of "Navalny," as well as his wife Yulia and his allies in the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
"I am, of course, terribly glad, but while rejoicing, I try not to forget that it wasn't me who won the Oscar after all," Navalny said.
The documentary portrays Navalny's career of fighting official corruption, his near-fatal poisoning with a nerve agent in 2020 that he blames on the Kremlin, his five-month recuperation in Germany and his 2021 return to Moscow, where he was immediately taken into custody at the airport. He was later sentenced to 2 1/2 years in prison and last year was convicted and given another nine-year term.
Navalny has faced unrelenting pressure from authorities. He spent several weeks in isolation in a tiny "punishment cell" and last month was placed in a restricted housing unit for six months. He is effectively deprived of phone calls or visits from his family, while being apparently allowed to write letters or have his lawyers visit occasionally.
In the tweets, Navalny confirmed Wednesday that he learned about the Oscar while attending a court hearing via video link from his prison. He said his lawyer tried to break the news to him by placing a piece of paper in front of a camera, but Navalny couldn't see what was written on it, so the attorney had to say it out loud — "Your film won an Oscar."
"I had a very strange feeling at that moment," the politician said. "It was as if those words didn't even belong in this world, but, on the other hand, everything here is so weird and crazy that it feels like that's the only world they belong in."
SMPTE elects board officers, regional governors
SMPTE®,the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, has revealed the board officers and regional governors who will serve terms beginning in January 2025.
Three new officers--Richard Welsh as SMPTE president, Eric Gsell as SMPTE executive VP, and Polly Hickling as SMPTE Education VP--have been elected for a two-year term from Jan. 1, 2025, to Dec. 31, 2026. One SMPTE officer, Lisa Hobbs, will be continuing her service as SMPTE secretary and treasurer for another two-year term. Additionally, Raymond Yeung will be stepping into the role of standards VP on Jan. 1, 2025.
“SMPTE’s membership has spoken,” said SMPTE interim executive director Sally-Ann D’Amato. “These officers have been tasked with an important responsibility, one each of them is prepared to tackle head-on. These next two years are looking bright for SMPTE!”
In addition to the officers, 10 regional governors were elected by the Society to serve two-year 2025-2026 terms.
These include the following regional governors, re-elected to continue their service:
Asia-Pacific Region Governor
Tony Ngai, Society of Motion Imaging Ltd.
EMEA - Central & South America Region Governor
Fernando Bittencourt, FB Consultant
United Kingdom Region Governor
Chris Johns, Sky UK.
USA - Central Region Governor
William T. Hayes, Consultant
USA - Eastern Region Governor
Dover Jeanne Mundt, Riedel Communications
USA - Western Region Governor
Jeffrey F. Way, Open Drives
Also elected were four newcomers to the SMPTE Board:
Canada Region Governor
Jonathan Jobin, Grass Valley
USA - Hollywood Region Governor
Allan Schollnick, Voxx... Read More