MOSCOW, July 3. /TASS/. The premier show of a documentary titled ‘The Presidential Protocol’ unraveling the subtle and sophisticated aspects of top-level official protocol took place in the Kremlin on Monday.
The author of the film, Vladimir Shevchenko, was the chief of protocol for Mikhail Gorbachev when the latter man was President of the USSR, and the first post-Soviet President of Russia, Boris Yeltsin. He also had an advisor’s position in the administration of Vladimir Putin.
The film explores the subtle and painstaking aspects of daily routine of the protocol service staff - the people who prepare top-level visits and summit talks. Their efforts in many ways predestine the atmosphere at the table of negotiations.
"I somehow felt sick and tired of hearing Russia had never had any protocol or that protocol was generally meaningless or that it was unclear why these protocol people were needed at all," Shevchenko said as he spoke about how the idea of this film had come to him.
"That’s why we did our best to make the film and I hope it will provoke public interest," he said.
"The main thing is this documentary doesn’t put gloss over facts," Shevchenko said. "We had miscalculations and we had successful moments. Everything here is strictly as it was."
"It’s really great that the people who went through all of this together with me attended the premiere show.".