“We must create a record.”
Creating a record of events is a primary foundation of journalism. It is also the function of documentary filmmaking. My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow, directed by Julia Loktev, is a record of those who create important records. By looking at press suppression in Russia, we may well recognize the way such anti-journalistic actions are taking in many places around the world.
Loktev, whose parents left the Soviet Union when she was a child, heard about some journalists in Russia being designated as “foreign agents”. Connecting with a Russian friend working for TV Rain, the last independent news channel, she began to discover how this designation was being used to threaten journalists and media outlets. When she started this four months before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, there were only a few such “foreign agents”; now, there are hundreds.
In the first chapter, we meet several of the young journalists (either at TV Rain or creating podcasts) who had been named (or might be soon) “foreign agents”. In these early stages of the film, it was almost a badge of honor to have the label. Certainly it was joked about, even though it did have serious repercussions.
This cohort are mostly women in their twenties. The age is important because they have only known Russia under Putin. TV Rain started as a youth-oriented channel. When youth began protesting things in 2011 over Putin avoiding term limits, TV Rain became the main place they looked for news, because the official media was run by the regime. This young group of journalists have all opposed the Russian actions in Ukraine (which they remind us began in 2017).
As the months passed, more restrictions were placed on journalists. Some chose to leave Russia. Most stayed because it is their home country. When the February 2022 invasion took place, they reported different news than the government wanted reported. The official version was that they were protecting Russian speakers against Nazis. It was called a “special operation”; to call it a war was prohibited. Any news other than the official line was called lies.
More threats were made. Many made plans to leave. After a week, TV Rain was declared an “undesirable organization” and shut down. The journalists all began to seek ways to leave the country, but it was difficult. Part II – Exile is currently being edited and will follow the people we have met here as they go to various other countries.
At over five hours, this is a very in depth look at the struggle the journalists in Russia had to “create a record” of the truth that they found. Could it have been shorter? Of course. However, in the abundance of material we are shown here, we come to a better understanding of the importance of a free press in society. A free press is certainly a threat to those who would be tyrants.
We can see such many variations of these issues in other places. For example, Israel prevents foreign press from reporting in Gaza (for over two years now) and has recently excluded a number of respected NGOs, such as American Friends Service Committee, CARE, Doctors without Borders, and Oxfam (the exclusion is the equivalent of Russia tagging a group an “undesirable organization”). We like to view Israel as a democratic state. Yet, such heavy-handed policies may give us pause.
Of even deeper concern, to me, is to consider the ways the current US administration is attacking the concept of a free press. President Trump has used lawsuits and threats of lawsuits, and further threats to abuse the power FCC and other agencies, as a way of intimidating news outlets. (Unfortunately, some have readily capitulated.) The White House has limited access for Associated Press because they continue to call the Gulf of Mexico by that name. The Department of Defense set new onerous requirements for its press corps which resulted in most reporters surrendering their credentials. This administration wants only its truth to be told.
I watched this film on the day it was announced that the US had invaded Venezuela, kidnapped its president and his wife, and declared that we will “run” the country. The reasoning offered by the US government may be as full of lies as Russia’s reasons for invading Ukraine. How much pressure will the government put on the press that tries to find the truth about this invasion? Of course, this isn’t Russia – is it?
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow is on the shortlist for an Oscar® nomination for Best Documentary Feature.
Photos courtesy of Argot Pictures.
