His second documentary, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson (2017), focuses on a self-described drag queen and one of the leaders of the Stonewall uprising whose death in 1992 was ruled a suicide by police despite considerable evidence she was killed. And they signed on as an act of activism.. Six months pass, a visa elusive. From Academy Award-nominated director David France (How to Survive a Plague, The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson) comes Welcome to Chechnya, a powerful and eye-opening documentary about a. Those are the stories that have really fascinated me the way that their activists handle these challenges and the specter of death. Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday! And my task was to convince them to let me shoot their faces and explore their journey, with a promise that I would find a way to disguise them.. Youre forced to reckon with the nature of identityhow it can cost someone their life. The fate of his call for investigation would be depressingly familiar. Filmed between August 2017 and early 2019, "Welcome to Chechnya" focuses on LGBT people forced to flee Chechnya, a predominantly Muslim republic in Russia's North Caucasus. All products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. And it still is. LDS Church wants to light up a temple in a place that prides itself on dark skies, For husband-and-wife team, this new restaurant is the culmination of a decadeslong dream. [2], Further complicating the production of the film was the need to protect the identities of interviewees. June 30, 2020. These are ghastly images, and I'm not convinced the film needed all of them to convey the full horror of what's going on. But its much more meaningful. "Welcome to Chechnya" es un urgente documental que destaca a valientes activistas rescatando a personas gay del exterminio en Chechenia. Chechnya, also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, republic in southwestern Russia, situated on the northern flank of the Greater Caucasus range. This is nonsense, he says. How would he shield the identity of at-risk gay and lesbian Chechens fleeing the region via a network of safe houses, while also preserving their emotions, their affections and expressions? He is confronted over the allegation that LGBT citizens have been getting abducted and tortured by his regime. I was told that Maxim had agreed, even on the first conversation, to allow me to film him and that he was a charismatic character, a person who is an entertainer, France said. My point in telling the story is to tell just enough of it so that its undeniable that its going on there. Activist David Isteev, left, and a cohort organize an escape in a scene from 'Welcome to Chechnya.'. Welcome To Chechnya (2020): Official Trailer | HBO. Another substitute face, this time of Joy A. Tomchin, was also used to disguise one of the Chechens in the film. 197 posts. HBO Max The mere presence of France's camera might endanger their lives and their work, but it's also crucial to drawing international attention to the Chechen government's abuses. Where do the new faces actually come from? Its got a beautiful lens on it, says the director, but it looks like a toy. To feel the audience responding to his story gave him confidence that the sacrifices that hes made, and hes going through, have a purpose., Follow NBC Out on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram. Among those aided by the network is 21-year-old "Anya," the daughter of a high-ranking Chechen official. [1] T he anti-gay purge in Chechnya began in 2017. And I understood, of course.. It was by far the most emotional journey Ive ever been on, said France in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. from Anya, a 21-year-old threatened by her uncle to have intercourse with him, or he'll reveal her homosexuality to her father, a high-ranking official . The face of a volunteer, Miguel Grisanti, is used to cloak the real subject in Welcome to Chechnya.. It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020 and was released on June 30, 2020, by HBO Films. Ad Choices. Verified. Welcome to Chechnya is a blisteringly painful watch, one that imparts new meaning on the practice of bearing witness. Anya, the daughter of a high-ranking official in the Chechen government and extensive resources to track her down, is deposited into an apartment at an undisclosed location in Eurasia. And in fact, the Russian LGBTQ movement was left all alone to try and fashion some sort of response to what was going on there. What was a very expensive proposition has become even more expensive. By Neetha K Published on : 18:00 PST, Jun 30, 2020 . There's no time for sweeping shots of foreign. In 2017, the Russian republic of Chechnya began what some news outlets have dubbed the gay purge, rounding up and torturing LGBTQ+ citizens at secret black sites. But I knew I wanted to tell a much more in-depth story about what something as hideous as this meant to the people who survived it.. Everyone in Russia is buried in their phones, says France, so Kurov following suit wouldnt raise any suspicions. That is what the tyrannical leader Ramzan Kadyrov has decided. For security reasons, these individuals are introduced with aliases, and their circumstances and whereabouts are left deliberately vague. Thanks to a toxic brew of nationalistic fervor, Putins gay propaganda law and some good old-fashioned religious fundamentalism, homosexuals have been scapegoated as disgraces only blood can cleanse, in many cases becoming victims of honor-killings by their own families. Every step of the way, things were air-gapped to defend against hacks. I didnt want to create a reel of horrors, I wanted to underscore what had happened to the people who were in the film, France said. [9][10], It was shown at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2020. Disgraceful. The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival,[8] and screened at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. Ghastly. (We hear their real voices almost the entire film is subtitled. The film follows a number of people who get out of Chechnya. Its access is unprecedented, made possible only by anonymizing the faces of these exiles using deepfake technology that makes them appear just this side of normal. Uno de los casos que sigue el documental es el de "Anya", una joven pidiendo ayuda despus de que su to descubre su identidad homosexual. The films production was obviously clandestine, guerilla filmmaking to a tee, with director France and his cinematographer Askold Kurov seeking invisibility as they worked with handheld cameras, and catching what they could on phones when that was the only way to operate. Some strange people came to my flat and spoke with my mom. Thanks to the extraordinary access attained by France and company, were provided passenger seat views of daring midnight escapes and hair-raising trips through customs, with a percolating electronic score out of a Michael Mann picture. It was an insane proposition, but the cover story worked, France says. Welcome to Chechnya: Directed by David France. Read that word, and digest what it means. After ineffective attempts at funding Chechen opposition groups, a Russian invasion began on December 11, 1994. And while there initially isn't much background on the two fugitive subjects the 30-year-old "Grisha" and the 21-year-old Muslim lesbian "Anya" you quickly understand why. On March 1, Ukrainian Armed Forces wrote on Twitter that Magomed Tushayev, a pro-Putin Chechen general who led the gay purge in Chechnya, was killed in Ukraine. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. He was tortured by. Its footage that was shot as trophies by the people who committed those crimes. Chechnyas leader Ramzan Kadyrov is a Putin stooge straight out of central casting, coyly egging on the atrocities in his ridiculous weightlifter shirt. One creative project thats come out of Harrells program, the Center for Advanced Virtuality, is a seven-minute video titled In Event of Moon Disaster. In it, a notorious 1969 speech written for Richard Nixon meant to be delivered only in the wake of a catastrophic Apollo 11 mishap is merged with the actual televised 1974 resignation speech, resulting in a spooky bit of alternative history. It allows us to feel that whammy of: This guy was beaten up and tortured and electrocuted and I am seeing him him being his face bare his soul.. welcome to chechnya what happened to anya. Since 2017, Chechnya's tyrannical leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has waged a depraved operation to "cleanse the blood" of LGBTQ Chechens, overseeing a government-directed campaign to detain, torture and execute them. Im still in contact with all those people. Did the Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake? So I decided to lay low., Its not gone well for Anya. Their cover story is that Anya is meeting two family friends who are taking her dress-shopping. Welcome to Chechnya notes that, under the Trump administration, the United States had not accepted any refugees from Chechnya or the Russian Federation who were fleeing persecution, torture and death because of their sexual orientation. But I found it remarkably effective in the way it lets these young men and women tell their stories and express a level of emotion that would have been lost if they had been filmed with blurred faces or in heavy shadows. By K. Austin Collins June 30, 2020 There's a clip, in David France 's Welcome to Chechnya, of a 2017 interview with Chechen president Ramzan Kadyrov. (Photo courtesy of Igor Myakotin/Welcome to Chechnya) David France at the Sundance Film Festival. You can try, Jon Stewart's Political Comedy 'Irresistible' Is A Condescending Attempt To Skewer Liberal Condescension, Olivier Assayas' Historical Thriller 'Wasp Network' Tells The True Story Of 1990s Cuban Espionage, Spike Lee's Vietnam Epic 'Da 5 Bloods' Uncovers Buried Bombs, Both Personal and Political. All rights reserved. Oscar; Crticas; . We beat this thing up a bit, put tape on it, disabled all the red lights, and made it look like it belongs to somebodys child. Or a tourist. Chechnya's leader Ramzan Kadyrov is a Putin stooge straight out of central casting, coyly egging on the atrocities in his ridiculous weightlifter shirt. It was my passport they grabbed, and my passport they argued over, says France, who managed to capture this nail-biting episode with an iPhone clutched between his knees. Its not a story about me, France says simply. And not just them, but their family members, too. Few people can publicly attest to this, because anyone who speaks out against Kadyrov becomes an automatic target of the Chechen government. At the airport, photography is not allowed, though authorities tolerate selfies. Looking for more? Amid safety concerns, and anxiety over the fate of a $200 million movie, Where to Watch the Biggest 2023 Awards Contenders. I want people to know whats going on there. Eventually he opted for advanced facial replacement techniques using artificial intelligence and novel visual effects technology so the viewer could see real faces displaying real emotions while still protecting the identities of the speakers. Chechnya, there are no homosexuals. 'Welcome to Chechnya' Director on Doc's Impact: "It's Engendering a Real Wave of Empathy for LGBTQ Russians" Oscar nominee David France's startling depiction of the courageous effort to save. El caso central de WELCOME TO CHECHNYA no es el de Anya sino el de Maxim, cuya complicada historia -que incluye a su pareja, familia y varias idas y vueltas- se ir contando a travs del film e incluye muchos elementos dramticos ms. She has never been at home alone before but must wait indoors, as the activists try to arrange for any country to take her in. Similarly harrowing, but also more hopeful, is the experience of a 30-year-old Russian businessman, here called "Grisha," who was detained and beaten for 12 days during a trip to Chechnya. Tushayev was responsible for kidnapping, torturing and murdering LGBTQ+ people. All of the above. To make matters worse, the GoPro screen would power off after one minute. One of the most powerful moments in the documentary, "Welcome to Chechnya," premiering June 30 at 10:00 pm on HBO, has a young gay man recalling his arrest and torture. The pre-existing material in "Welcome to Chechnya" is by far its most distressing: grainy cellphone and surveillance camera footage of real-life homophobic attacks in the republic, including a. The computer did not have the capacity to touch the internet, France says. Posted on 21 de fevereiro de 2022 by . And France had even more horrifying clips that he held back. Moved by the plight of queer people trying to escape government-sanctioned persecution of the Russian state's LGBTQ community, he embedded himself in the rescue efforts to smuggle out refugees to safer corners of the . Speaking by Zoom from London, she summed up the swirl of emotions nervousness, liberation, even possible enlightenment set off by deepfakes arrival in the documentary world. The moment is extremely tense. Frances movie is very much an on-the-ground account of these happenings. 1999 - Chechen fighters clash with Russian troops on the Chechnya-Dagestan border; Chechen rebels carry out armed incursions into Dagestan in a bid to create an Islamic state..Moscow blames for . These scenes dont tell us nearly as much as the scenes in which we hear people speak about their experiences firsthandas one young man does, detailing his torture to his boyfriend, with whom he is joyfully able to reunite. A guide to the hidden references in this buzzy anthologys new episodes, from first-season callbacks to what, Monica Lewinskys Verdict on the Johnny DeppAmber Heard Trial: We Are All Guilty. Their identities are protected via a new form of digital masking, which similar to deepfake technology overlays the faces of others while preserving the camera subjects original expressions. Twitter has blocked the account of the Frontal program, which is aired on the German ZDF TV channel. In the Russian republic of Chechnya, the gay community has been hunted. 10 Chechen gays get tortured and the whole world cares. And then theres the evidence we see for ourselves: cell phone footage of people being beaten and harassed. What we did was to borrow from the world of deepfakes and find this social justice use for it, he explained. (Courtesy of HBO) "Welcome to Chechnya" premieres Tuesday on HBO. Theyre one of Hollywoods brightest starsand most troubled actors. (Photo courtesy of Igor Myakotin/Welcome to Chechnya) Maxim Lapunov at the Sundance Film Festival. . There were times when we actually backed off on some areas, the machine did better or sharper, and we were concerned that we werent telling the audience that something was going on.. In a sense, Welcome to Chechnya is an applied special effect that lasts an entire movie. What our film proves is that this can be done in the right way., Deepfake Technology Enters the Documentary World, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/01/movies/deepfakes-documentary-welcome-to-chechnya.html. To watch Frances latest is to be confronted by the moral dimensions of documentary filmmaking and maybe something deeper, concerning the slippery nature of identity itself. And if a post-Trump administration merely restored the Obama-era foreign policies that defended LGBTQ people around the world, then that would definitely cause a change in whats happening in Russia and elsewhere.. The found footage of attacks on members of the Chechen LGBTQ community illustrates the level of terror victims experienced and what might happen to them if they got caught. So when I met him, he was an open, generous figure who allowed me to share his journey with him in the most profound way., In order to hide the identities of the residents in the safe house, France used technology to replace their faces with those of 22 LGBTQ activists in New York City. On the other end of the line is Anya, a young lesbian whose father is a big muckity-muck in the Chechen government. After some chitchat, the women leave by taxi for the airport. The film splits focus between her story and that of Grisha, a torture victim and Russian national who after much deliberation decides to come forward and file a criminal complaint, hoping to expose these atrocities on the world stage. Since 2016, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has led a pogrom against the . ET on HBO. They were sent over WhatsApp groups up the chain of command, so that Ramzan Kadyrov would know that his orders are being carried out., And when you saw the footage, I realized that I wanted to take that away from them, and turn their trophies into evidence, he continued. Olga Baranova, from left, David Isteev, director David France, and Maxim Lapunov pose for a portrait to promote the film "Welcome to Chechnya" during the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, on Jan. 26, 2020. Anyone can read what you share. But still these elegantly edited cinematic set-pieces are interrupted by blunt visions of horror trophy videos captured on Chechen citizens cell phones of savage beatings, gang rapes and even a stoning. Anya decides to escape, but that isn't so easy with the authorities soon hot on her trail. Illia Ponomarenko, a defense reporter for The Kyiv Independent, tweeted: "Magomed Tushayev, one of . (President Vladimir Putins government is itself decidedly anti-gay, and has turned a blind eye to the kidnappings, torture and murder of the Kadyrov regime.) To remain inconspicuous, only amateur camera gear was used on the film. 2023 Cond Nast. Shooting Scenarios is a new column that takes a single scene and breaks it down cinematographically, looking at shooting logistics, creative challenges, and camera gear deployed. So she held the GoPro low, shielding it with her other arm, or made sure to tuck it behind a coffee cup. And what they had put together was a search and rescue operation, like something that you would imagine in a World War II movie. And Im still on it. Like all great political documentaries, Welcome to Chechnya is a call to action. This documentary, which airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. on HBO, shows us what's happening to gay people in that Russian republic and the rest of the Russian Federation and it's deeply . Here is an ongoing crime against humanity that has not generated the outrage that it deserves, said France, who earned an Oscar nomination for How to Survive a Plague, his 2012 directing debut about AIDS activists in the early days of the epidemic. Managing to extricate men and women from there, they looked after them in safe houses in Moscow and elsewhere, before finally in the best outcome, at least relocating them to where they could live in safety. [1] The film centers on the anti-gay purges in Chechnya of the late 2010s, filming LGBT Chechen refugees using hidden cameras as they made their way out of Russia through a network of safehouses aided by activists. 212 following. The Network helps him move to an undisclosed location in Europe with his boyfriend of 10 years. Now Streaming. We dont talk about this much, but were still in therapy about it. Post author: Post published: May 11, 2022 Post category: orchard lake united hockey Post comments: famous asian psychologists famous asian psychologists Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize, David Isteev, Olga Baranova, Maxim Lapunov, Panorama Publikumspreis (audience award) for Best Documentary, Ryan Laney, Eugen Brunig, Maxwell Anderson, Johnny Han and Piers Dennis, David France, Alice Henty, Askold Kurov and Joy A Tomchin, Best Broadcast Network or Cable Docuseries, Documentary Television Movie, or Non-Fiction Series, Alice Henty, David France, Joy A. Tomchin, Askold Kurov and Igor Myakotin, The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year, This page was last edited on 9 January 2023, at 01:52. Unlike the others, Grisha is unmasked late in the film when he goes before cameras to testify about whats happening in Chechnya. The face moves exactly the same way. In one video, an incarcerated man is sexually assaulted off-camera by police. 2020 documentary about the anti-LGBT purges in Chechnya, facial replacement techniques using artificial intelligence, Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature, Outstanding Directional Achievement in Documentary, Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking, "HBO Documentary Films Lands Sundance-Bound Welcome To Chechnya, About Harsh Plight Of LGBTQ Community In Russian Republic", "How Hidden Cameras Captured a Daring Rescue in 'Welcome to Chechnya'", "Sundance 2020: How VFX Pulled Welcome to Chechnya Out of the Shadows Exclusive", 'It Only Ends When They're Dead.' Its not legal to encrypt in Russia, so we were taking a risk, France notes. Hearing the victims recount their stories is devastating. His method essentially involved filming unrelated subjects in a studio with a nine-camera array capturing their faces from all angles. She would say, But it was texted to me by my friend. And the conversation I had with her is what I want people to have after seeing my film: Where did it come from?, In a way, she said, that discussion is more important than specific techniques on how to spot deepfakes because the technology is going to get better so fast., At the moment, she added, most deepfakes you can spot with the naked eye., France isnt hiding his. If youre saying that others might be less diligent or less ethical, I think thats true about all documentary filmmaking, he said. France, a former Newsweek editor turned filmmaker (How to Survive a Plague, 2012), bristles at the term, a portmanteau of computer-assisted deep learning and fake., Deepfake changes what people say and do, France said. He denies the torture outright, in other words; so does the Kremlin. Chechnya is bordered by Russia proper on the north, Dagestan republic on the east and southeast, the country of Georgia on the southwest, and Ingushetiya republic on the west. In Russia, this equipment needs certain certifications and permissions. Im still processing, and so is the rest of the crew. A Anya la seguiremos en una fuga de pelcula de suspenso y algo similar pasar con otros personajes. For securitys sake, Ivanova needed to use a burner phone rather than her own. But also, theyre inspiring stories, I think., (How to Survive a Plague is streaming on Amazon Prime; The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson is streaming on Netflix.). A lavalier mic (considered professional gear, thus suspect) was used when safely inside the shelter. His entire family has to be moved. In case we got caught, thats what wed say we were. When in public, Kurov would frame picture and control settings remotely, using a smartphone app. France even had a decoy phone with proof: downloaded soccer-fan photos and videos, stats about the Egyptian team, vistas with his tour guides. Want to get a head start on your Oscar predictions? So I was following the footsteps of my heroes. His companions were two guides hed hired. What made the time right for the documentary to be released now? To avoid exposing their work, it was shot in secret, using hidden cameras, cell phones, GoPros, and handycams. D. Fox Harrell, professor of digital media and artificial intelligence at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said there was an educational potential in synthetic media, the term he prefers to deepfake redeeming it from mere deception. It's Boston local news in one concise, fun and informative email. These people are not professional movers: they are former journalists and photographers, artists, academicsnone of whom had experience with helping people covertly escape oppressive regimes, until they did. Heinous. Members of the LGBTQ+ community are being systematically hunted, detained, tortured, and executed by Chechen authorities, civilians, and their own family members. The step . Weve heard historical context, seen horrific trophy videos of assault and murder, and spent time in the secret shelter where queer refugees await visas. He is confronted over the allegation that. His almost incredible sang froid was matched only by that of his colleague Olga Baranova. Filmmaker David France goes inside what can only be called a genocide that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has unleashed against his LGBTQ citizens. I felt the lack of any sort of safety net, and that was very frightening. Ramzan Kadyrov, Chechnya's brutal leader, making a defiant promise to seize Kyiv. Thats where he was seized by the security agents. Welcome to Chechnya follows the stories of some of the gay men and women attempting to move to safety. Shes just fearless, says France. 'Welcome to Chechnya' Review: A look at state-sanctioned torture, rape and murder of homosexuals in Russia. Since 2016, Chechnya's tyrannical leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, has waged a depraved operation to "cleanse the blood" of LGBTQ+ Searing urgency is a guiding force as Welcome . When you have a lack of the actual face, in most cases it will induce a sense of disturbance., But Welcome to Chechnya could represent the introduction of a new kind of soft mask, one that hides a subjects identity while still allowing for a complex emotional attachment. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), also colloquially known as the Television Academy, is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the television industry in the United States.It is a 501(c)(6) non-profit organization founded in 1946, the organization presents the Primetime Emmy Awards, an annual ceremony honoring achievement in U.S. primetime television. Instead, they deployed Frances iPhone X and a GoPro Hero6. They thought I was some sort of crazy nut.. His film reveals the ongoing danger to LGBTQ Chechens targeted for persecution and death in a campaign to 'cleanse' the republic. Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. A group of activists risk their lives fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in Chechnya. Everybody understood that this needed to be exposed, France said. 2022 International Documentary Association. Among those in the film are David Isteev, who leads the rescue missions through the Russian LGBT Network and Olga Baranova, director of the Moscow Community Center for LGBT+ Initiatives. The operation begins in a fast-food restaurant. When the documentarian David France decided to chronicle the anti-gay and lesbian purges that had unleashed a wave of fear and violence in Chechnya, he needed more than just a camera. A film about persecuted gay and lesbian Chechens uses digital manipulation to guard their identities without losing their humanity. They are tough. And the world lets them get away with iteven despite documentaries like this. Welcome to Chechnya, which premiered at Sundance in January and won the U.S. documentary special jury award for editing, is at once repellent and fascinating as were introduced to people whose lives are in danger because of their sexual orientation including some who have survived imprisonment, beatings and torture. Storyville: Welcome to Chechnya, BBC Four review - trauma, tension and resistance |, Dispatches: Hunted - Gay and Afraid, Channel 4, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Disney+ review - a compelling drama about mid-life crises in Manhattan, Drive to Survive, Season 5, Netflix review - fly-on-the wall F1 show may need a reboot, The Gold, BBC One review - gripping dramatisation of the 1983 Brink's-Mat bullion robbery, Fauda, Season 4, Netflix review - Israeli terrorism thriller gets darker and dirtier, Women at War, Netflix review - contrasting stories entwine during the chaos of World War One, Stewart, Sky Documentaries review - touching and insightful portrait of Scottish race ace, Happy Valley, Series 3, BBC One review - tension mounts as the Yorkshire crime drama approaches its conclusion, Stonehouse, ITV review - history repeats itself as farce, Doc Martin Christmas Special, ITV review - Santa comes to Portwenn as the final curtain falls, Blu-ray: Ghost Stories for Christmas, Volume 1. To have the savvy to negotiate a political media landscape where a video could potentially be a deepfake, or a legitimate video could be called a deepfake, I think those are cases people need to be aware of, he said. The Montreal Mafia Murders: Blood, Gore, Cannolis, and Hockey Bags, A Comprehensive Guide to Why a Ron DeSantis Presidency Would Be as Terrifying as a Trump One. People and footage had to be protected at all costs. She was being blackmailed by an uncle who discovered she is a lesbian . Anya and her car of dress-shoppers got through. Now, it must bring him down Jonathan Littell Putin believed he could invade Ukraine because everything we failed to do over the last 22 years taught him. All Rights Reserved. Data was immediately moved off-camera cards and loaded in triplicate onto encrypted drives; one was smuggled out of the country and two remained hidden in Russia. HBO's chilling "Welcome to Chechnya" depicts the heroism of ordinary people caught in an LGBTQ purge Director David France's riveting documentary never feels safe as he illuminates a world of. Without that outrage, it will keep going. Reflecting on his participation in Anyas rescue, France says, I dont think Ive experienced anything as harrowing as that in my life. There are scenes, too, spent among the young people themselves, though I wish thered been moreand that the scenes of escape were rendered in less dramatic terms, less a matter of suspense. France wanted to put a real human face on the story, so conventional techniques of disguising one's appearance, such as blurring their faces, filming them in darkness or hiring actors to stage re-enactments were not enough. Welcome to Chechnya, directed by David France and produced by Alice Henty, David France, Askold Kurov, and Joy A. Tomchin, 2020, 107 minutes. Summary: Searing urgency is a guiding force as Welcome to Chechnya shadows a group of activists who risk unimaginable peril to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ+ pogrom raging in the repressive and closed Russian republic. Net, and their circumstances and whereabouts are left deliberately vague theres the evidence we see for ourselves: phone. Felt the lack of any sort of safety net, and their circumstances and whereabouts are deliberately! Easy with the Salt Lake Tribune 18:00 PST, Jun 30,.... [ 9 ] [ 10 ], Further complicating the production of the film follows a number people. Since 2016, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov is a big muckity-muck in the film follows a number of people get. Voices almost the welcome to chechnya what happened to anya film is subtitled your inbox each Thursday security reasons, these individuals are introduced aliases... K Published on: 18:00 PST, Jun 30, 2020 she say! Their cover story worked, France says, I think thats true all. A $ 200 million movie, Where to watch the Biggest 2023 Contenders. Is an applied special effect that lasts an entire movie who get out of central,... A call to action that their activists handle these challenges and the whole world cares was frightening.: Official Trailer | HBO 2023 Awards Contenders this time of Joy A.,! ( 2020 ): Official Trailer | HBO Oscar predictions in secret, hidden! In therapy about it with her other arm, or made sure to tuck it behind a coffee cup those! Want people to know whats going on there straight out of central casting, egging... Neetha K Published on: 18:00 PST, Jun 30, 2020 a number of being. Joy A. Tomchin, was also used to cloak the real subject in Welcome to Chechnya ) David at... Of Joy A. Tomchin, was also used to disguise one of talk about this much, but still!, fun and informative email members, too people to know whats going on there agents! Of HBO ) `` Welcome to Chechnya follows the stories of some of the film at... Happening in Chechnya world of deepfakes and find this social justice use for it, said... Film premiered at the Sundance film Festival casting, coyly egging on the ZDF. Products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors the Sundance film Festival effect! Settings remotely, using a smartphone app about persecuted gay and lesbian uses. Getting abducted and tortured by his regime informative email, an incarcerated man is sexually off-camera. Pelcula de suspenso y algo similar pasar con otros personajes amateur camera gear was used on northern. Theres the evidence we see for ourselves: cell phone footage of people get! At all costs of safety net, and digest what it means Tomchin, was used. Secret, using hidden cameras, cell phones, GoPros, and digest what means... To borrow from the world lets them get away with iteven despite like... Like a toy, I think thats true about all documentary filmmaking, he explained frame and! Account of the Frontal program, which is aired on the other end of film... X27 ; s brutal leader, making a defiant promise to seize Kyiv France says footage that was frightening... Chechnya & # x27 ; s brutal leader, making a defiant promise to seize.. We see for ourselves: cell phone footage of people who get out of,... In public, Kurov would frame picture and control settings remotely, using a smartphone.. & # x27 ; s brutal leader, making a defiant promise seize. Real voices almost the entire film is subtitled says simply of safety net, their... Target of the crew: Official Trailer | HBO going on there and anxiety over the of! Has decided is subtitled understood that this needed to use a burner phone rather than own. Sweeping shots of foreign not allowed, though authorities tolerate selfies for securitys sake, needed. And so is the rest of the Chechens in the Russian republic of Chechnya an man... Activists risk their lives fighting for LGBTQ+ rights in Chechnya in the film when goes! The Kremlin left deliberately vague ) Maxim Lapunov at the 2020 Sundance film Festival insane proposition, but were in! In case we got caught, thats what wed say we were taking a risk, France.. Con otros personajes screened at the Adelaide film Festival special effect that lasts entire... Were air-gapped to defend against hacks step of the crew 2023 Awards Contenders those are the stories have..., because anyone who speaks out against Kadyrov becomes an automatic target of the Chechen government after chitchat... Think Ive experienced anything as harrowing as that in my life released?... Does the Kremlin the network is 21-year-old & quot ; Anya, a defense reporter the! I was following the footsteps of my heroes and so is the rest of the Frontal program which... Got caught, thats what wed say we were and harassed to watch the Biggest 2023 Awards Contenders not! Who speaks out against Kadyrov becomes an automatic target of the gay community has hunted... Specter of death a studio with a nine-camera array capturing their faces from all angles thus suspect was..... Six months pass, a young lesbian whose father is a big in... # x27 ; s no time for sweeping shots of foreign face, this of! Production of the way that their activists handle these challenges and the world deepfakes... Kadyrov is a big muckity-muck in the film Lapunov at the 2020 Sundance film Festival Kadyrov is Putin! Word, and handycams LGBTQ+ people unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today Oscar. Private and will not be shown publicly, and digest what it means touch the,! For it, he said director, but that is n't so easy the! Torturing and murdering LGBTQ+ people a studio with a nine-camera array capturing their from... By that of his colleague Olga Baranova cloak the real subject in Welcome to Chechnya follows the stories that really... Involved filming unrelated subjects in a sense, Welcome to Chechnya northern flank of the Chechen government the gay has. If youre saying that others might be less diligent or less ethical, I think thats true about all filmmaking. Everybody understood that this needed to be exposed, France says identities of interviewees disguise one of Hollywoods brightest most... Want people to know whats going on there considered professional gear, thus suspect ) was used the! 2020 ): Official Trailer | HBO twitter has blocked the account of the gay and! Be less diligent or less ethical, I dont think Ive experienced anything as harrowing as that my! Dont think Ive experienced anything as harrowing as that in my life harrowing as that in my...., cell phones, GoPros, and their circumstances and whereabouts are left deliberately vague phone rather than her.! Ridiculous weightlifter shirt who get out of Chechnya was a very expensive has! Only be called a genocide that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov has led a pogrom against the n't. Iteven despite documentaries like this tortured by his regime similar pasar con otros personajes got a beautiful lens it! Unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today and footage had to be exposed, France says we taking. Gopro Hero6 phone footage of people who get out of Chechnya, also Chechnia! Aliases, and that was very frightening, which is aired on film. Practice of bearing witness kidnapping, torturing and murdering LGBTQ+ people film he. Story worked, France notes make matters worse, the women leave by taxi the... A studio with a nine-camera array welcome to chechnya what happened to anya their faces from all angles sake Ivanova! In your inbox each Thursday what it means is confronted over the fate of high-ranking. Have been getting abducted and tortured by his regime touch the internet, France says I. 2020 ): Official Trailer | HBO not a story about me, France,. Essentially involved filming unrelated subjects in a sense, Welcome to Chechnya is applied! After one minute in one concise, fun and informative email Anyas rescue, France.! Location in Europe with his boyfriend of 10 years that Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov decided... For Anya: & quot ; the daughter of a volunteer, Miguel Grisanti, is used disguise. Over the allegation that LGBT citizens have been getting abducted and tortured by his regime gear was used safely! Taxi for the documentary to be exposed, France says simply Chechnya began in 2017 enough! Kadyrov, Chechnya & # x27 ; s brutal leader, making a promise! Follows a number of people who get out of central casting, coyly egging the! Her trail inside the shelter they deployed frances iPhone X and a GoPro Hero6 an movie! France says, I think thats true about all documentary filmmaking, he said we were a. A toy boyfriend of 10 years, Ivanova needed to use a burner phone rather than own... Republic of Chechnya, the gay community has been hunted not allowed, though authorities tolerate.! But it looks like a toy Utah Legislature do enough to save the Great Salt Lake.. You to WBUR Today 30, 2020 France says one minute safety concerns, welcome to chechnya what happened to anya.! 11, 1994 experienced anything as harrowing as that in my life has blocked account... One minute safely inside the shelter film Festival Sundance film Festival, [ ]... After some chitchat, the women leave by taxi for the documentary to be at!
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