Viktor Bout claimed he was a “legitimate businessman,” but in reality, he brazenly violated United Nations arms embargoes and grew wealthy as a merchant of death in Africa. Some even claimed that Bout, a Russian, was an Al Qaeda and Taliban arms supplier.
The Notorious Mr. Bout, which will be screened at the Canadian International Documentary Festival (Hot Docs) on April 27 and May 4 in Toronto, leaves a viewer with the distinct impression that he was one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth.
Bout is no longer a menace. Charged with terrorism for having supplied weapons to anti-American guerrillas in Colombia, he was extradited to the United States from Thailand several years ago. In April 2012, a judge sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
Bout, as directors Tony Gerber and Maxim Pozdorovkin suggest, was a product of his times. Formerly a foreign language translator in the Russian army, he seized his opportunity to strike it rich in the chaos that followed the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
He imported food and beverages for a hungry, pent-up market, and in 1993, he established a company that sub-leased Russian cargo airplanes. Transferring his operations to the Arab world, he shipped consumer goods to Russia and former Soviet republics.
Around that time, he moved into the lucrative arms trade in Africa, regarding the vast continent as “a happy hunting ground,” as one journalist caustically says. Eventually, Bout was active in Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
By his own admission, he was a millionaire by 25 and had amassed an empire by 30.
He says he was not an arms dealer, merely a transporter of weapons — a claim that few believe.
Bout’s role in the illegal arms trade is elucidated by means of interviews with former associates and police officials who tracked his activities. His wife provides intriguing personal tidbits.
There is abundance of incriminating file footage on Bout because he was an avid photographer.
The Notorious Mr. Bout offers viewers a rare peek into a murky world.