Documentary film “My Undesirable Friends: Part Ⅰ- Last Air in Moscow” is a desperate but intimate chronicle of the journalistic defiance in Moscow during the early 2020s. While it is often alternatively depressing and infuriating to watch a bunch of young independent journalists being oppressed by the Russian government in one or another, the documentary is also quite powerful as closely following how these brave and decent professionals tried to fight against the Russian government as long as possible.
The documentary begins with one of those young independent journalists in Moscow. When she begins another day in her local media outlet TV Rain, Anna Nemzer and her colleagues look mostly casual on the surface, but we gradually see more of how things become grimmer for them day by day. In 2021, the Russian government led by Vladmir Putin labeled TV Rain and many other local independent media as “foreign agents” or “undesirable”, and they were also demanded to do their reporting with stating that they are serving foreign powers. Naturally, Nemzer and many of her colleagues were not amused to say the least, but, despite their strenuous protest and resistance, they could not possibly say no because the Russian government can shut them down at any point.
The documentary consists of five chapters in its very long running time (325 minutes), and its first chapter shows how Nemzer and her colleagues tried to keep their heads straight and high despite the growing oppression from the Russian government. Despite many obstacles they had to face day by day, they searched for any possible way for more integrity and defiance, and there is an amusing scene where Nemzer willingly puts herself in front cameras as a “model foreign agent”.
However, as director/co-producer/co-editor/cinematographer Julia Loktev, who is also a close friend of Nemzer, steadily followed the daily life of Nemzer and her several other colleagues, things only got worse and worse for them without much hope or optimism during next several months. Since getting labeled as “foreign agents”, they were frequently cornered or harassed by the Russian government, and some of them willingly talk about how they cannot help but become quite nervous even when they are inside their homes. Surrounded by numerous regulations on “foreign agents”, they have to be very, very, very careful about not violating these regulations at any chance, because the Russian government is ready to pounce upon them all the time just for any excuse to be noticed.
Needless to say, getting out of Russia began to look more like a sensible option for not only Nemzer and her colleagues but also many others who had been outspoke in their opposition to Putin – especially when the Russian Army invaded Ukraine in early 2022. Putin and his Russian Government oppressed progressive journalists and activists all the more before, and it seemed that there was no end in sight for Nemzer and her fellow independent journalists.
Nevertheless, they tried to stay and work in Moscow as they always did for years, and the documentary gives us a series of personal moments showing more of their humanity and personality. In case of Irina Dolinina and Alesya Marokhovskaya, who are also a couple, they give some of the most moving moments in the documentary as being simply frank and casual in front of Loktev’s camera. At one point later in the documentary, an old female activist points out why it is important to keep fighting against all odds, and that will make you reflect more on the main goal of the documentary. Sure, the efforts from Nemzer and her colleagues may not amount to anything in the end, but their efforts themselves may remain despite that, and the documentary certainly helps as vividly and closely recording their efforts.
However, the documentary still does not overlook how things quickly got all the more daunting for them within a few weeks after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Eventually, Nemzer became more serious about leaving the country along with her family, and that certainly depressed her a lot. She had lived in an apartment building where she once lived with her parents many years ago, and the growing possibility of leaving her old home again was quite painful for her because she really wanted to live there as long as she could.
As many of her colleagues left one by one, there eventually came what can be regarded as the breaking point for Nemzer and her remaining colleagues. As told to us at the end of the documentary, most of them and many other figures in the documentary left Russia due to their safety concern, and, as many of us know too well, their country has tumbled further into more fear and oppression as escalating its “special military operation” in Ukraine during next several years.
On the whole, “My Undesirable Friends: Part Ⅰ- Last Air in Moscow”, which was included in the short list for Best Documentary Oscar in last year (It also won the Best Documentary award at the 2025 Gotham Independent Film Awards, by the way) and is already followed by Loktev’s very next documentary “My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile” (2026), is surely a long and daunting experience to say the least, but it is a superlative piece of work which will definitely make you muse on not only what has been going in the Russian society but also that undeniable value of good journalism, which has been unfortunately deteriorated a lot during last two decades for many reasons including the rapid rise of online fake news and fascism around the world. In short, this is one of the best documentaries from last year, and I assure you that you will be ready for its sequel documentary once you finish its long but rewarding journey.
