“My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile”, Interview with director Julia Loktev

A Documentary Shaped by History

In My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile, Julia Loktev continues the story begun in the first chapter of her documentary project. Presented in the Venice Open – Out of Competition – Non-Fiction section at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, the film follows a group of independent Russian journalists across four years of displacement.

Loktev began filming in Russia four months before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, she was documenting journalists who had been labelled “foreign agents,” without knowing that her work would soon capture one of the most dramatic turning points in recent history.

From Moscow to Exile

When the war began, the subjects of the first film were forced to leave Russia within hours. Loktev followed them, travelling from Istanbul through several other countries. The film was eventually shot in twelve countries, reflecting the constant movement of people who had been expelled from both their professional and personal lives.

The documentary portrays these journalists as they attempt to rebuild their careers abroad while continuing to report the truth to Russian audiences. Their exile is not only geographical; it also becomes a struggle to preserve their identity, ethics and sense of belonging.

A Camera at the Distance of Friendship

Shot entirely alone with an iPhone, Exile maintains an extraordinary physical closeness to its subjects. Loktev explains that the camera often occupies the same distance as a friend standing beside them, creating an intimate and immediate relationship.

This proximity allows the film to move beyond observation. The camera becomes almost another presence within the group, sharing moments of uncertainty, conflict and tenderness as the protagonists try to navigate an unpredictable new reality.

Personal and Professional Responsibility

At the centre of the film is a profound question: how can someone remain a decent person when they come from a country committing terrible acts? The journalists featured in Exile refuse to hide behind the distance of “not my president.” Instead, they confront the responsibility of being citizens of the country waging the war.

For Loktev, this accountability is both personal and professional. Her subjects continue to identify the Russian army as “our army” even while reporting its war crimes, accepting the moral weight of speaking about their country’s actions.

Life Continues in Exile

Over the course of four years, the film also captures unexpected changes in the lives of its protagonists. Pyotr Zyvin, a journalist since the age of eighteen, eventually joins the Ukrainian army after deciding that reporting was no longer enough. Others fall in love, separate or develop new friendships.

These transformations underline the film’s most human dimension: history does not stop personal life. Even in exile, people continue to make difficult choices, form relationships and search for a way forward.

A Possible Third Chapter

Loktev and her collaborators dream of making a third chapter, but only if the political situation in Russia changes enough for the journalists to return. At present, all of them would risk arrest if they went back.

The next instalment, if it ever becomes possible, may be many years away. For now, My Undesirable Friends: Part II – Exile stands as a record of displacement, courage and ethical responsibility in a time of war.

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