US director Oliver Stone wants to make Putin film

MOSCOW-

US director Oliver Stone wants to make a documentary about Russian President Vladimir Putin, he said Thursday on a visit to Moscow, where he is working on a film about fugitive whistleblower Edward Snowden.

The controversial film-maker has already made a documentary about his relationship with the former Cuban leader Fidel Castro, as well as “My Friend Hugo”, a tribute to the late Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.

“I would interview (Putin) to show the point of view that Americans don’t want to hear about,” Stone told RIA-Novosti news agency. “I would like to make a documentary about him.”

Stone met Putin earlier this week after an event in a Moscow theatre.

The three-time Oscar nominated director of “Platoon”, “Wall Street” and “JFK” has been flying back and forth to Russia to make a film about Snowden, recently tapping actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt for the role.

“We are working on the screenplay of the film,” which is partly based on a book written by Snowden’s Russian lawyer Anatoliy Kucherena, he told RIA Novosti.

“We hope to begin shooting at the beginning of next year, since we have been working on the screenplay for almost a year and we are very happy that everything is working out.”

Kucherena told AFP that he and Stone are poring over the screenplay now. “I think it turned out really well,” he said, adding that Snowden has also approved of the choice of the actor to play him.

“I discussed (Gordon-Levitt) with Snowden, and he said it is up to the screenwriter and director.”

“He is not against (the movie), who would be against a movie about themselves?” Kucherena said.

– ‘Trusting relationship’ –

“We have a trusting relationship (with Stone),” Kucherena said. “At first we were suspicious of each other.”

Edward Snowden has been living in Russia since June 2013 after becoming stranded at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport after flying from Hong Kong where he revealed the extent of the US global surveillance program.

Accorded refugee status, he has been staying at an undisclosed location ever since, where he has been visited by his American girlfriend Lindsay Mills. They have been exploring Russia and going to the theatre together, Kucherena told AFP last month.

Stone previously said he is working on a movie about the Ukraine conflict, which has led to the worst crisis in Russia’s relations with the West since the Cold War.