My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

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My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow

Released Aug 15

5h 24m

Documentary

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15 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.

David Fear

Rolling Stone

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.

Aug 18, 2025

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Sam Adams

Slate

Julia Loktev’s My Undesirable Friends: Part I—Last Air in Moscow grabs you from its opening frames and, despite its substantial length, never loosens its grip on your soul.

Aug 16, 2025

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Justin Chang

The New Yorker

This is, in no small part, a film about what it means to wait -- for a colleague to be released from a pointless, unjust detention, or for the world to finally come crashing down.

Aug 15, 2025

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Jared Mobarak

Hey, Have You Seen ...?

It’s important Loktev doesn’t distill it down to a two-hour lecture. Humanizing them ensures they aren’t just cogs in a machine being worn down and thrown away. These are the true voices of Russia.

Rated: 9/10

Aug 15, 2025

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Christopher Campbell

Nonfics (Substack)

My Undesirable Friends paints a heroic picture of professionals who aren’t well paid, aren’t well-respected enough by the public, and are under constant threat of imprisonment or death, but who believe that the truth and accountability matter.

Aug 14, 2025

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Stephen Saito

Moveable Fest

As a movie, it’s enormously engrossing, but as a witness to history, “My Undesirable Friends” is truly essential.

Feb 24, 2025

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Stephen C

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

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/15/25

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Julia Loktev

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Julia Loktev

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Julia Loktev

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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