YOUNG PATRIOTS

Inside Putin's Youth Camps

Putin has been working hard to instill an ideology into Russia’s children. They are being indoctrinated with a coherent set of ideas about their place in the world as Russian citizens: warriors who must defend the motherland against an entire world that is intent on destroying their country. The Youth Army movement was established in 2016. Almost two million Russian children have signed up to this network of summer camps and military youth clubs. This doc the first unfiltered look inside what really happens inside this world.

THE FILMMAKER

Paul Mitchell came to international attention with 'The Death of Yugoslavia’ (BBC 1995) rated by the British Film Institute as one of the 100 greatest British television programs of any genre. As both a director and a showrunner, he has made award-winning (BAFTA, EMMY, RTS, Grierson, Peabody, du-Pont Columbia) series and feature docs that sit between current affairs and history for over 25 years A fluent Russian speaker, he made definitive Putin series on both the BBC and Channel 4: Putin: Russia & the West (BBC 2012) and Putin: A Russian Spy Story (C4 2019) (Grierson and Reelscreen winners), as well as the multi award-winning ‘Second Russian Revolution’ (BBC 1990), and 2023’s BBC Storyville, Inside Russia: Heroes and Traitors (RTS and BAFTA finanists nominee). His subject matter is often political: Scotland’s bid for independence, ‘Yes/No: Inside the IndyRef’ (BBC 2019, Scottish BAFTA winner); the American presidency, ‘Inside Obama’s White House’ (BBC 2016, Grierson winner), ‘The Clintons: A Marriage of Power’, (C4 1998 INDY winner) and the Emmy-winning Watergate (1994).