Written and directed by Julia Loktev, born in the Soviet Union, American filmmaker Julia Loktev returned to Moscow in 2021 to make a documentary on the persistence of independent media journalism in Putin’s Russia—just months, as it turned out, before the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Featuring: Anna Nemzer, Ksenia Mironova, Sofya Groysman, Olga Churakova, Irina Dolinina, Alesya Marokhovskaya and Elena Kostyuchenko.
Firstly, it has to be said that the fact that Julia Loktev was able to make a five-hour documentary that is continually and consistently captivating, compelling and utterly necessary is quite an impressive achievement. Part of that is undeniably the outrageous, oppressive, relentless situation that the journalists find themselves in. How the government ceaselessly, and increasingly in severity, finds ways to undercut their ability to do their job and make their lives as difficult as possible. As well as leaving them constantly worried for their security and safety, makes for plenty of material to fill a documentary.
The way that Loktev captures that timeline and how their daily lives and careers are gradually put more in jeopardy is smart, confident and highly considered. How it’s edited, how it’s chaptered, how it progresses, it’s all put together so well to keep the energy, pacing and atmosphere going strong. Especially as Loktev takes the time to not just portray the subjects’ journalistic endeavours but also their everyday lives and relationships, which are inherently impacted by the former. That choice really helps you get to know the subjects, and they are a fantastic group with a lot of personality.
It’s also great to see how Loktev chose to focus on women, because they’re very different people but their stories work together so well. They help to create the sharpness of My Undesirable Friends, but they also add humour, they’re incredibly sympathetic and unsurprisingly, their communication skills for their emotions and mental health are on top form. That’s another key element of the documentary, it’s capturing how these women are remarkably able to acknowledge the ridiculous nature of their situation, and laugh at it because what else can they do? So, as is quintessential of womanhood, they simply get on with what needs to be done. They refuse to give up but also, they do what they have to in order to protect themselves and their loved ones. They’re an extremely smart, committed, principled group of people, who are easy to watch, even if their situation certainly is not, their endurance and persistence is extraordinary.
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow pays ultimate justice to its incredible subjects, and the subject at hand. It’s compelling, captivating and, it would be nice to still live in a world where we could say shocking viewing, but as the events of this documentary took place several years ago, we’ve already seen how things only got worse. Julia Loktev created such a necessary and in depth look at the lives of these journalists, their impressive efforts to keep unbiased media going, to convey truth, all while battling for their own safety. Unquestionably Loktev took a real risk making the documentary five-hours long, but it pays off.
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