In 2021, filmmaker Julia Loktev went to Russia with the intention of making a film documenting the country’s ever-growing list of “foreign agents” – a list of people and organizations the government deems “under foreign influence.”
The designation is often used to stigmatize journalists, NGOs, and groups that go against President Vladimir Putin and the government, and in 2021, the list was growing like mad.
“We got the idea to start making a film about this because journalists are being forced to label themselves as others, not belonging to a society,” Loktev said at a press conference about the film, moderated by Rolling Stone film critic David Fear. “We thought that was quite disturbing and might lead to bad things.”
So, Loktev began documenting, with nothing but her iPhone, a group of journalists in Moscow – most of them women, and most of them connected to TV Rain, which was the last remaining independent TV channel in Russia at the time (TV Rain was named a foreign agent by the Russian government in 2021).
However, while “My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow” might have started out as a deep dive into the difficulty and danger of being a journalist in Moscow, it became a document that captured history in real time. Loktev captured the mood in Moscow during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, following these journalists as, one by one, they made the harrowing decision to leave their home and their work for their own safety. The five-part documentary will begin streaming on Mubi on April 3.
“I think nobody knew when we started filming, none of us knew how huge the story would become, that I was walking into capturing history,” Loktev said. “And of course, none of the main characters had any idea that I was going to be filming them for what’s now four and a half years. Because there’s also part two, where I followed everyone over, like, 13 countries in exile.”
Watching the documentary is filled with a harrowing sense of dramatic irony – we know that Russia will eventually invade Ukraine, but for the journalists on our screen, it’s still something that, despite the government’s aggression, feels unfathomable. So, the majority of the first part of “My Undesirable Friends” (a part two, which is called “Exile,” is expected to come out later this year) is about the everyday fear that is part of being labeled a foreign agent.
Anna Nemzer, a host for TV Rain and Loktev’s connection to the rest of the group of journalists, explained in the press conference exactly what stipulations are enacted on foreign agents.
“Every material you produce, whether it is an article, or it is a post on social media, you have to put this paragraph of 24 words, basically explaining that this post, or this article, is created by a foreign agent,” Nemzer said. “And you can’t not do that, because otherwise there would be a fee, and, like, one fee, then two fees, and then that would be a criminal charge. So, basically, you could end up in jail.”
Watching “My Undesirable Friends,” it’s impossible not to think about the Trump administration’s frequent attacks on the press and more recently, the war in Iran. But when asked if she had any advice for American journalists dealing with a country on the path toward authoritarianism, Nemzer didn’t sugarcoat her response.
“The thing is that it’s really difficult to give advice, because … we knew that something horrible was about to happen. We were aware. Maybe we couldn’t predict the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, because it was, and … it still is something beyond at least my imagination,” she said. “But we were very much aware that something really bad was already happening.”
Nemzer said she didn’t think it was possible to give a playbook on how to deal with government attacks on freedom, but hoped that the film could show American audiences that other people have felt the same way.
“I can’t say, kill any hope that you have, and believe that everything’s gonna be very, very bad,” she said. “But maybe, this film can share, maybe we can share this feeling of being aware.”
In addition to Nemzer, one of the other journalists centered in the documentary is Ksenia Mironova, who is also the fiance of journalist Ivan Safronov, who was sentenced to 22 years in prison in 2022 on unconfirmed treason charges. The documentary very closely follows Mironova’s journey through Safronov’s imprisonment, often in quite intimate detail.
Mironova said she hasn’t been able to bring herself to watch the documentary in full, but the parts that she has seen feel like a sort of therapy.
“I think it’s important, and I love it that [Loktev] captured this as a historical moment, but also as something very private for me,” Mironova said.
Loktev became quite close with her subjects over the course of filming, not just emotionally but literally as well. She made the documentary on an iPhone, necessitating that she be in close contact with the journalists when she was filming. In one of the film’s final, most difficult scenes, Mironova cries as she finally makes the decision to leave Russia for her own safety, fearing what her decision will mean for Safronov. In moments like that, the intimacy that Loktev had built with her subjects made filming all the more difficult.
“That’s a hard thing to do … unless you’re a monster and a vulture, you know, that’s actually hard,” she said. “But what made it possible is that I knew we had this trust.”
Mironova said the fact that Loktev was physically in Russia, putting herself in the same danger as the rest of them, made the filming process easier.
“If I had problems, she would have problems with me,” she said. “So, I think it really helped.”
It’s no accident that most of the main characters in Loktev’s film are women. Perhaps the most interesting thing about “My Undesirable Friends” is how warm the friendship between these women is. The film is often a funny and enjoyable watch, despite the looming specter of war and tyranny.
“I’ve seen it described as a hangout film – a hangout film about authoritarianism,” Loktev said. “And I think that’s important. I actually did start out filming some men. They were just not that interesting to film.”
“I think this is what’s the best about Julia’s movie,” Mironova said. “You can feel this intimacy, and you can feel that we are just regular people, and I think this is why people in other countries like this movie, because they can see by the friendship, and how we support each other, and how we are just regular people as they are. And they can feel it.”
“My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow” will be streaming on Mubi on April 3.
