Screening of the documentary by Tristan Waleckx, Guillaume Beaufils. Q&A with the authors. Finalist Long Reportage
“Kompromat” by Tristan Waleckx, Guillaume Beaufils | Production: France Télévisions (France 2017), 58'
The Russian word Kompromat (compromising document) surfaced in the news after a rumour the FBI took seriously: the Russian secret services were in possession of a compromising video of Donald Trump, in the middle of an orgy with Russian prostitutes. Kompromat is about stealing personal images to blackmail one’s targets (journalists, members of the opposition, diplomats). This KGB practice was brought back by Putin, who has used it to enhance his power and control the opposition. Under his rule, these intelligence tactics have become a media tool — some platforms specialized in the spread of salacious documents. This documentary is the first one to focus both on the victims and the perpetrators of these schemes. It also reveals the unheard story of a French expatriate who has gone on the run after a Kompromat gone wrong.
Tristan Waleckx graduated from the École supérieure de journalism, in Lille. In 2007, his first long format Assedics et vieilles dentelles was awarded the Best Investigation Prize by AJIS (Association des journalistes de l’information sociale). After five years at the TV news on TF1, in 2012 he joined the editorial board of France 2, where he conducted magazine shows and investigations for Envoyé Spécial and Complément d’Enquête. In 2017, his documentary Vincent Bolloré, un ami qui vous veut du bien, co-directed by Matthieu Rénier, won the Prix Albert Londres, the highest award of journalism in France.