"The project was prompted by a new practice requiring all journalists or outlets who received any non-Russian funding to self-identify as "foreign agents." At first, the reactions of TV Rain on-air host Anna Nemzer and her colleagues, forced to read an absurd disclaimer at the beginning of every story, is one of typically Russian dark humor."
Women's History Month 2026 features Maggie Gyllenhaal's feminist Frankenstein adaptation alongside documentaries highlighting women's resilience. The standout is Julia Loktev's five-hour documentary My Undesirable Friends: Part I - Last Air in Moscow, which follows female journalists at Russia's final independent television news station during the months surrounding the 2022 Ukraine invasion. The film captures their experience as Putin's regime enforces "foreign agent" labeling and suppresses free press. Initially responding with dark humor to absurd disclaimers, the journalists face escalating persecution. Despite its length, the documentary remains compelling, allowing viewers to experience the subjects' gradual realization of danger transforming into immediate peril as independent journalism becomes increasingly impossible.
Read at Oregon ArtsWatch * Arts & Culture News
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