'My Undesirable Friends' Director Julia Loktev

'My Undesirable Friends' Director Julia Loktev

From IndieWire's Filmmaker Toolkit by Chris O'Falt

April 7, 2026 · 49 min

About this episode

Julia Loktev discusses her documentary on independent journalism in Russia amidst the invasion of Ukraine.

American filmmaker Julia Loktev, born in the Soviet Union, returned to Moscow in 2021 to make a documentary on the persistence of independent journalism in Putin’s Russia, only to find herself documenting its death in real time as Russia invades Ukraine. Julia walked us through how she felt living inside this dark moment of Russian history, and how she can't help draw comparisons back home. Read our full review of "My Undesirable Friends" - https://www.indiewire.com/criticism/movies/my-undesirable-friends-part-1-last-air-in-moscow-review-1235053151/ Subscribe to Top Of The Line - IndieWire's new newsletter about the craft of film and TV - https://cloud.email.indiewire.com/signup/ Listen to the Screen Talk Podcast. Every Friday IndieWire editors Anne Thompson & Ryan Lattanzio break down insider news from Hollywood and debate the latest films and series. - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/indiewire-screen-talk/id893977298 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

People in this episode

Host: Chris O'Falt

Guest: Julia Loktev

Topics covered

  • independent journalism
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • documentary filmmaking
  • political commentary

Keywords

  • Julia Loktev
  • independent journalism
  • Russia
  • Ukraine
  • documentary
  • My Undesirable Friends
  • politics

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: IndieWire

Books & works: My Undesirable Friends

Places: Moscow, Russia, Ukraine

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