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Julia Loktev's six-hour 'My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile' opens in US theatres

Julia Loktev's nearly six-hour documentary follows exiled Russian TV Rain journalists after the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It opened in select US theatres from Mubi on 9 October to strongly positive coverage.

2 outlets · 2L · 0C · 0R First reported Account updated
Image: IndieWire
Image: The Independent

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The story, neutrally told

Left · 2Julia Loktev's documentary "My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile" runs close to six hours and follows Russian independent journalists who fled their country after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Left · 2It opened in select theatres from Friday 9 October, distributed by Mubi, and is the second part of a project that began in autumn 2021, when Loktev started filming independent reporters in Moscow. Left · 2Part I, "Last Air in Moscow", made the Oscar shortlist, ran almost five and a half hours and now streams on Mubi. It covered the collapse of TV Rain, which IndieWire calls Russia's last remaining independent news channel.

Left · 2Loktev, who was born in the Soviet Union and is an American citizen, shot the film alone on an iPhone, travelling between cities including Tbilisi, Jaffa, Istanbul, Prague, Amsterdam and New York to follow subjects scattered across Europe. Left · 1The film follows several people. Anna Nemzer, a former TV Rain anchor, moves to Georgia. Elena Kostyuchenko is a reporter who suspects she was poisoned by the Kremlin. Peter Ruzavin, a Russian journalist, and Nataliya Gumenyuk, a Ukrainian reporter, keep their marriage going over Zoom calls between Vienna and Ukraine. Left · 1According to the Independent's report, Ruzavin later joined the Ukrainian armed forces and has served over two years. In Venice Ruzavin said, "We need not to run away from Putin. We need to fight him."

Left · 1IndieWire's reviewer calls the film "gripping" and "a landmark work" that will be remembered as one of the boldest documentary achievements of the 21st century. The reviewer also describes it as more of a "vibe movie" than a journalism epic, and says its five sections could suit streaming. Left · 2Loktev calls it "a hangout film" and "a friendly film", and says viewers need no background in Russian politics. The Independent adds that the second part can be watched without having seen the first. Left · 1Meryl Streep is an executive producer. Loktev says Colin Firth, who had been attached to an earlier fiction project, sent Streep the film. Streep intended to watch 15 minutes and, in Loktev's telling of Streep's account, watched for five and a half hours. Laura Poitras is also an executive producer on Part II.

Left · 1Loktev says TV Rain now operates from Amsterdam, that most of its hosts have been declared extremists and terrorists in Russia, and that Russia slows YouTube to limit access. The film shows TV Rain's attempt to rebuild in Latvia, where host Alexey Korostelev was fired over a remark that seemed to suggest the outlet was assisting Russian soldiers. The outlet then dissolved again and survives as a YouTube channel. Left · 1Loktev says the release has no conventional theatrical distributor, and that a publicist warned audiences might be tired of hearing about press freedoms and authoritarianism. Loktev answered that "authoritarianism isn’t tired of them". Loktev also said the film is not an exposé of war crimes, contrary to a Daily Beast headline, and would make a Part III only if Russia's political situation changes.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left2 outlets

Framing
Both outlets are positive. IndieWire reviews the film as a gripping, accessible landmark and runs an interview on Loktev's process and Meryl Streep's involvement. The Independent presents a news feature on the escape from Russia and on Loktev's own account of making the film.
Emphasis
The film's length not being a barrier, its intimate iPhone approach, the personal stories of the exiled journalists, and Loktev's own comments.
Leaves out or plays down
No coverage gives critical views of the film or comment from Russian officials. The Independent says little about the film's form or the Korostelev episode that IndieWire covers, and IndieWire says little about Ruzavin joining the Ukrainian army.
Charged language
“gripping”“landmark work”“fascist-imperialist actions”“terrifying escape”
For example
“what she’s achieved here is a landmark work that will go down as one of the boldest documentary achievements of the 21st century” — IndieWire
“Opening with the intensity of a cinematic spy thriller” — The Independent
“Loktev’s extraordinarily intimate epic” — IndieWire

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right0 outlets

No right outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.