My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow is a 2024 Russian-language American documentary film written and directed by Julia Loktev. It is a documentary on the persistence of independent journalism in Putin’s Russia during the period leading up to the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.[1]
The documentary had its world premiere at the 2024 New York Film Festival in the Main Slate section on October 13, 2024 at Francesca Beale Theater.[2]
The documentary highlights a team of young journalists, mostly women, reporting under increasing repression in Russia. Outlets like TV Rain are labeled "foreign agents" or "undesirable" by Putin's regime, a designation met with dark humor by staff. Even before the Ukraine invasion, police crackdowns and arrests had intensified.
Cast
Anna Nemzer
Ksenia Mironova
Sonya Groysman
Olga Churakova
Irina Dolinina
Release
The film was screened for press at the New York Film Festival ahead of its official world premiere on September 25, 2024, where journalists at exiled Russian news network TV Rain were audience.[5]
Lauren Wissot reviewing for IndieWire graded the film as A- and titled it as "A Scary and Riveting Portrait of Russia’s Last Independent News Channel". Wissot opined that albeit spending over five hours mostly in the company of strangers in their apartments might initially seem like a rather tedious experience but, Loktev manages to justify this duration, as her "undesirable friends" gradually become familiar to us as well.[10]
Keith Uhlich reviewing for Slant Magazine gave score of 3 out of 4 and opined, "In a strange and very sad way, the Ukraine invasion gives Julia Loktev’s movie its sense of purpose."[11]
Accolades
Tim Grierson, Senior United States Critic, placed the film at number 1 as Best documentary of the year 2024.[12]
