My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

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My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

Aug 2025

5h 24m

Documentary

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21 Reviews

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Fewer than 50 Ratings

Soviet-born American filmmaker Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet, Day Night Day Night) came to Moscow in 2021 to make a film about independent journalists being declared "foreign agents" by Putin's regime -- as it turns out, just four months before Russia started a full-scale war in Ukraine. With her friend Anna Nemzer, a talk show host at TV Rain, Russia's last remaining independent news channel, Loktev brings us into a community of sharp, warm and funny young women speaking truth to power as they face increasing threats. Loktev filmed in Moscow during the first week of the full-scale invasion, as the journalists tried to counter Russian propaganda and report the truth on the war, until all independent media was shut down and they were forced to flee the country. Structured in five chapters, feeling like a cross between a Russian novel and a reality show about frighteningly real reality, Loktev's film is an extraordinary historic record of a country on the verge of fascism and an immersive and intimate inside view of the opposition in an authoritarian society, which becomes all the more globally relevant every day.

Tim Grierson

Los Angeles Times

Nov 26

Loktev didn’t set out to be a witness to history, but what she’s emerged with is an indispensable record and a rallying cry.

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Brian Tallerico

RogerEbert.com

Aug 22

4/4

We have seen so many documentaries about our past, but few have felt more like a warning about our future.

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David Fear

Rolling Stone

Aug 18

Regardless of political situations, this initial batch of My Undesirable Friends‘ dispatches from the frontlines would make for absolutely magnificent and undeniably moving viewing. It’s one of the best films of the year, full stop.

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James Greenberg

culturevulture.net

3d

A remarkable film that serves as a historical document of a dark time.

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Dennis Harvey

48 Hills

6d

A harrowingly up-close look at press freedoms under siege. Needless to say, it’s a cautionary tale we can’t afford to dismiss here in the U.S.

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Marya E. Gates

Cool People Have Feelings, Too. (Substack)

Dec 5

I can’t say this film made me feel better about the way the integrity of the media is eroding here in the U.S., but it definitely made me feel a solidarity with those around the globe who are doing what they can to slow fascism’s grasp on all our lives.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Aug 15

Real footage in 5 hours and 24 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Julia Loktev

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Synopsis

Soviet-born American filmmaker Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet, Day Night Day Night) came to Moscow in 2021 to make a film about independent journalists being declared "foreign agents" by Putin's regime -- as it turns out, just four months before Russia started a full-scale war in Ukraine. With her friend Anna Nemzer, a talk show host at TV Rain, Russia's last remaining independent news channel, Loktev brings us into a community of sharp, warm and funny young women speaking truth to power as they face increasing threats. Loktev filmed in Moscow during the first week of the full-scale invasion, as the journalists tried to counter Russian propaganda and report the truth on the war, until all independent media was shut down and they were forced to flee the country. Structured in five chapters, feeling like a cross between a Russian novel and a reality show about frighteningly real reality, Loktev's film is an extraordinary historic record of a country on the verge of fascism and an immersive and intimate inside view of the opposition in an authoritarian society, which becomes all the more globally relevant every day.

Director: Julia Loktev
Producer: Julia Loktev
Production Co: Marminchilla
Genre: Documentary
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Theaters): Aug 15, 2025, Limited
Runtime: 5h 24m