My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow

Our “Come to Stay” series features feature-length documentaries that explore current social contexts. Julia Loktev, an American filmmaker born in the Soviet Union, traveled to Moscow in 2021 to shoot a film about independent female journalists whom Putin’s regime had declared “foreign agents.” Just four months later, Russia invaded Ukraine. Through her friend and co-director Anna Nemzer, a talk show host at Russia’s last remaining independent news channel, Loktev gets to know a community of sharp-witted and humorous young women who dare to fight for the truth, even as they face increasing repression and are ultimately forced to leave the country. MY UNDESIRABLE FRIENDS PART I – LAST AIR IN MOSCOW is a monumental historical document that is gaining more global relevance by the day: it shows a society sliding into totalitarianism and offers insight into the lives of those who resist. (Birgit Kohler)