Uploaded March 2024 | Updated September 2026, 33 minutes ago
Once upon a time, Hollywood director Oliver Stone struck up a partnership with U.S. filmmaker Igor Lopatonok.
The duo worked together on a pair of pro-Kremlin documentaries and a fawning, eight-part mini-series on Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev — for which they were quietly paid at least $5 million in funds from Nazarbayev’s foundation.
Now, leaked documents suggest Stone may have initially agreed to participate in another documentary with Lopatonok, one that would see him interviewing Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine appears to have put a stop to Stone’s involvement.
Lopatonok also drew up pitches for a Stone interview with Azerbaijani ruler Ilham Aliyev, and additional synopses for films praising the records of Turkey’s strongman leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The leaks reveal Lopatonok’s lucrative film formula: bolster dictators’ reputations in return for a hefty payday, with Stone as the star interviewer.
To read our entire investigation, visit: occrp.org/en/investigations/pro-kremlin-us-filmmaker-pitched-fawning-films-to-dictators-starring-oliver-stone
Once upon a time, Hollywood director Oliver Stone struck up a partnership with U.S. filmmaker Igor Lopatonok.
The duo worked together on a pair of pro-Kremlin documentaries and a fawning, eight-part mini-series on Kazakh leader Nursultan Nazarbayev — for which they were quietly paid at least $5 million in funds from Nazarbayev’s foundation.
Now, leaked documents suggest Stone may have initially agreed to participate in another documentary with Lopatonok, one that would see him interviewing Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko. Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine appears to have put a stop to Stone’s involvement.
Lopatonok also drew up pitches for a Stone interview with Azerbaijani ruler Ilham Aliyev, and additional synopses for films praising the records of Turkey’s strongman leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The leaks reveal Lopatonok’s lucrative film formula: bolster dictators’ reputations in return for a hefty payday, with Stone as the star interviewer.
To read our entire investigation, visit: occrp.org/en/investigations/pro-kremlin-us-filmmaker-pitched-fawning-films-to-dictators-starring-oliver-stone
