My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow

A gripping documentary portrait of Russian journalists living and working under the crosshairs of a hostile regime.

It’s late 2021, and the journalists of online news channel TV Rain are among the very few still providing an independent account of the state of their country, providing factual reports on the increasingly oppressive policies and standover tactics of Vladimir Putin’s regime. Deemed ‘foreign agents’ by law, they are forced to navigate draconian broadcast guidelines and the constant threat of imprisonment. When Russia invades Ukraine, further amping up domestic speech restrictions and hostility towards dissidents, these correspondents must decide whether to keep providing a voice or flee from a homeland in which they’re no longer safe.

Following six young female journalists over the course of four months, My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow is an engrossing observational documentary set against the backdrop of a steady erosion of civil liberties. Director Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet, MIFF 2012) brings a distinct feeling of intimacy to this long-form episodic work, mostly shooting on her iPhone and maintaining a close rapport with her subjects. Capturing big-picture history in small moments, this real-life epic invites us into the lives of journalists striving to fight for the truth and maintain their humanity as the walls close in around them.

“The best doc of the year … an invaluable document about what it’s like to be one of the remaining voices of dissent in a country that has finally decided to seize control of the narrative.” – Vulture