The Making of a New Empire

Dutch documentary filmmaker Jos de Putter directs this portrait of Chechnya's charismatic leader Khoozh-Ahmend Noukhaev. The film shows the dashing leader touring about the strategically sensitive independent region of Russia as if he were a feudal lord. He doles out $100 bills to villagers, makes grandiose plans for the bombed out capital of Grozny, and dispenses with presidents at a whim.

• Jos de PutterDirector