
Fresh Air Following independent journalists fighting for free press in Russia
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Feb 5, 2026 Julia Loktev, filmmaker known for intimate documentaries and director of My Undesirable Friends, follows young Russian journalists under crackdown. She describes filming in Moscow, shooting on an iPhone for closeness. Conversations cover the foreign agent law, choices between exile or prison, surveillance risks, and how community, dark humor and music sustained resistance.
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Phone Footage Creates Intimacy
- Shooting on an iPhone created intimacy and access ordinary documentary rigs might not have achieved.
- Loktev says phones made subjects act naturally and allowed her to film private, lived moments.
Independent Press Before The Crackdown
- Independent Russian journalism existed openly before the 2022 escalation, covering corruption and social issues.
- The full-scale invasion abruptly made that work impossible and criminalized routine reporting.
Choosing Airport Over Newsroom
- Loktev filmed during the first week of the full-scale invasion as journalists debated whether to keep working or flee.
- Newsrooms decided to leave so they could continue reporting from exile rather than risk imprisonment.





