Russian Independent Press Exile Told Through ‘My Undesirable Friends’

Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the government had already branded some of its most critical journalists as foreign agents. Julia Loktev’s documentary series, “My Undesirable Friends,” follows the exile that came next, tracing the lives of reporters who had to choose between working without filters and risking prison, censoring themselves, or leaving the country.

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I had no initial plan. I simply started filming. I could have made a two-hour film and then there would have been a kind of synthesis of the information, it would have been like reading a news story, but you would not have had the feeling of experiencing firsthand what it felt like to be these people.

The five-part series, shown out of competition at the Venice Film Festival, features Elena Kostyuchenko of Novaya Gazeta, TV Rain presenter Valeria Ratnikova and Anna Nemzer, the broadcaster’s editor in chief. Loktev, a Russian-American filmmaker, said she began filming without an initial plan. A two-hour film could have offered an information-heavy synthesis, she said, but it would not have conveyed what it felt like to live through the experience of the people portrayed.

The documentary follows journalists who sometimes had only a few hours to buy a plane ticket. They travel to Turkey, Austria, Poland and other countries, where they have rebuilt their lives and continued reporting from outside Russia. Kostyuchenko said journalists still working inside Russia, often anonymously, remain essential to those in exile. “In Russia there are still great journalists who continue working, mostly anonymously. For us it would be impossible to work from exile if we did not have our colleagues in Russia, who do truly heroic work,” she said.

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In Russia there are still great journalists who continue working, mostly anonymously. For us it would be impossible to work from exile if we did not have our colleagues in Russia, who do truly heroic work.

The pressure has continued to expand. Russia’s Justice Ministry added Novaya Gazeta to its foreign-agent list on Friday. The newspaper lost its license four years ago, and authorities accused it of continuing to violate the law by publishing “false information” about government decisions and distributing reports from other foreign agents. Ratnikova said TV Rain’s work has also become harder abroad since the channel was designated an undesirable organization in 2023. “When we left Russia, we had not been declared an undesirable organization. We were only foreign agents. But when you are declared an undesirable organization, cooperating with you becomes a crime,” she said.

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When we left Russia, we had not been declared an undesirable organization. We were only foreign agents. But when you are declared an undesirable organization, cooperating with you becomes a crime.

The exiled reporters still believe their work reaches people inside Russia. “There are still many people in Russia who want to be heard, who want to know the truth, who want to be understood and feel that they are not alone. That is why they write us many letters telling us what is happening to them,” Ratnikova said. The film was presented during the 83rd Venice Film Festival, held from Sept. 2 to 12.

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There are still many people in Russia who want to be heard, who want to know the truth, who want to be understood and feel that they are not alone. That is why they write us many letters telling us what is happening to them.