Oscar-Bound Documentary Exposes Putin's War on Press Freedom
As Hollywood prepares for Oscar season, one documentary stands out not just for its artistic merit, but for its urgent message about democracy under siege. Julia Loktev's My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow has swept major critics' awards and enters Academy voting with a powerful story about independent journalism's final gasps in Putin's Russia.
The five-and-a-half-hour documentary, which won Best Documentary at both the Gotham Awards and New York Film Critics Circle Awards, captures a pivotal moment in media history. Loktev, who immigrated from the Soviet Union as a child, returned to Moscow in 2021 just as Putin's crackdown on independent media reached its peak.
When Journalism Becomes 'Undesirable'
The film's title reflects a chilling legal reality in Putin's Russia. "'Undesirable organization' is actually a legal classification in Russia," Loktev explains. "Russia has now deemed almost all independent media as undesirable organizations along with many civil rights organizations, NGOs, educational institutions."
Her protagonists include Anna Nemzer from TV Rain, Russia's last independent news channel, reporter Ksenia Mironova, and Elena Kostyuchenko from Novaya Gazeta, a journalist compared to Joan Didion. These young women represent the final generation of independent journalists who could operate openly in Russia.
The documentary employs pure vérité style, following these journalists as censorship tightens around them. What begins with moments of gallows humor transforms into a thriller as the Kremlin systematically dismantles press freedom.
Echoes of Authoritarianism
Loktev draws disturbing parallels between Putin's tactics and authoritarian playbooks elsewhere. She notes how Russia shut down Memorial, the country's oldest human rights organization dedicated to preserving memories of political repression, with officials asking: "Why should we have to be ashamed of our history? We won World War II. Can't we talk about pleasant things?"
This sanitization of history resonates beyond Russia's borders. "I think we see that now in the States too," Loktev observes, referencing attempts to whitewash uncomfortable historical truths. "It is part of how authoritarians work. You tell your past so that you can enact your present."
The Price of Truth-Telling
By the film's end, all of Loktev's subjects have fled Russia with only carry-on luggage. Some have been declared terrorists and extremists in absentia. None can work openly in their homeland anymore.
Despite the Academy's general reluctance toward lengthy documentaries since rule changes following O.J.: Made in America, Loktev secured approval from the documentary branch's executive committee for Oscar eligibility.
Stories of Resilience in Exile
Part II of the documentary, currently in production, will follow these journalists across 13 countries as they rebuild their careers in exile. "I'm endlessly surprised by how people keep working, how people even now in exile, all of them work as independent journalists," Loktev reflects. "How they find the strength to keep going, how you keep fighting when the fight seems lost."
As democracy faces challenges worldwide, My Undesirable Friends serves as both historical document and urgent warning. It reminds us that press freedom, once lost, is extraordinarily difficult to reclaim, and that the courage of individual journalists often stands as the last bulwark against authoritarian control.
The film's Oscar prospects matter beyond Hollywood recognition. In an era of disinformation and attacks on media credibility, stories like these illuminate why independent journalism remains essential to democratic society.