MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS: PART I — LAST AIR IN MOSCOW

A gripping 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—reporting factual stories 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 tightening domestic speech restrictions and hostility toward dissent, these correspondents must decide whether to keep providing a voice—or flee a homeland in which they are no longer safe. Director Julia Loktev delicately captures the tension between their tight solidarity and deep anxiety. The result is an extraordinary vérité document that captures a moment of immense change, while also revealing the gradual collapse of a resistance space under authoritarian oppression.