David Frances revelatory film may have been subtitled The Gay Purge, but from the start it was clear this wasnt just another documentary from Russia charting the increasing pressure faced by that countrys queer community. For security reasons, these individuals are introduced with aliases, and their circumstances and whereabouts are left deliberately vague. I asked them if they would lend their faces as a human shield to protect the identities of the folks Id filmed. I want people to be invested in it. With no help from the Kremlin and only faint global condemnation, activists take matters into their own hands. Grade: B+ "Welcome to Chechnya" premiered at the Sundance. Welcome to Chechnya ends almost exactly as it begins, only a year later with a weary Isteev telling us this story still doesnt have an ending. Then he gets another call. If anything, the activists tell us, the women need more help escaping. In Russia, this equipment needs certain certifications and permissions. "Welcome to Chechnya" is a vital and urgent portrait of an unprecedented humanitarian crisis, and the world needs to hear about it. Sometimes thats a tall order. Welcome to Chechnya opened with footage of activist David Isteev (pictured below) waiting anxiously on his phone, listening to 21-year-old Anya the names of all except the activists were changed, their faces and voices disguised from the Chechen capital Grozny, tell how she was being blackmailed by a family member threatening to reveal her sexuality. 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. The false face morphs into the real face of Maxim Lapunov, who later appeared with France and two members of the Russian rescue operation, Olga Baranova and David Isteev, at the Sundance premiere to a thunderous standing ovation. The main camera, operated by Kurov, was a Sony FDR-AX100 handycam. David Frances HBO documentary about Chechnyas anti-LGBT pogrom is brutal, but necessary. She was being blackmailed by an uncle who discovered she is a lesbian . According to Representative Billy Long, abortions, not guns, are the problem. '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. We witnessed Anyas extrication from Chechnya across the mountains, the first step in an evacuation that saw her moved to temporary safety in the hinterland of a neighbouring country (her journey would go no further, not the only example where family coercion or other intervention would prove more powerful than fear). Jimmy Kimmel Roasts Fragile Snowflake Donald Trump for Allegedly Trying to Censor Him, Ghostwriting Gloria Swanson: The Strange, Sexually Charged Genesis of a Legendary Autobiography, Ezra Millers Messiah Delusions: Inside. Activist David Isteev, left, and a cohort organize an escape in a scene from 'Welcome to Chechnya.'. HBO. Every step of the way, things were air-gapped to defend against hacks. His bigoted policies and authoritarian behavior make him just as bad a pick for the top job in Washington. 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. People there are killed and tortured for being gay, as described in scary detail within the film. Playing the aunties are cameraperson Alexandra Ivanova and a female activist. [4] To protect the identities of the interviewees, they could not move the footage across the internet nor work on it in an open studio setting. The mere presence of. Instead, they edited the film in a windowless room in order to keep with security protocols. All of the above. I was so involved in the technical work for the months leading up to Sundance that I hadnt stepped back to see the film. So she held the GoPro low, shielding it with her other arm, or made sure to tuck it behind a coffee cup. Deepfake Technology Enters the Documentary World. Six months pass, a visa elusive. For example, we hear within the opening few minutes the testimony of a young Muslim girl (named "Anya", although all names have been changed) whose sexuality has been discovered by her uncle, who vows to tell . 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. "Welcome to Chechnya" es un urgente documental que destaca a valientes activistas rescatando a personas gay del exterminio en Chechenia. Her uncles threatening to out her unless she has sex with him, and given the high-profile family connections Isteev and Baranova have even less time and resources than usual to sneak her out of the country. France is an award-winning journalist who has been a war correspondent in Central America. Distressing. (A good number of the refugees wind up in Canada, while to the surprise of absolutely nobody the Trump administration has yet to admit any into the U.S.) Isteev is introduced taking a cellphone call with the camera circling around him like the hero in an action movie, one of many times France borrows the visual language of Hollywood thrillers to hammer home his storys urgency. HBO Max 50% of the Chechen population killed in 1944 and 200 000 Chechens killed (1/5 of the population) during the Chechen wars and hundreds of Chechens being assinated and going missing each year and no one gives a rats ass about Chechnya. Everyones nervous, knowing that at any minute Anyas name could appear on a federal wanted list. 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. 'Country Queers' shares the 'joy' and 'pain' of rural LGBTQ life, NYC's Queer Liberation March draws thousands, clashes with NYPD, Two New Yorkers vie to be first gay Black men in Congress. And they signed on as an act of activism.. Luckily, they had enough faith in me. So last century. Amid safety concerns, and anxiety over the fate of a $200 million movie, Where to Watch the Biggest 2023 Awards Contenders. For Welcome to Chechnya, he set up a secret editing suite and remained entirely offline while on the job. Welcome to Chechnya is largely procedural, with long scenes detailing the steps it takes to covertly travel from one territory to another, toward safety or something like it. ), Everybody understood the importance of telling the story. "We don't have such people here," declares Ramzan Kadyrov, chuckling . It isnt as dramatic as a pulse-pounding scene at the airport, waiting for passport approvals and hoping everyones cover story works out. All technology has a dual moral purpose, he argued. The operation begins in a fast-food restaurant. Giving them different faces also makes a kind of poetic sense: It's a reminder that to be LGBTQ in a repressive society is to never feel comfortable in your own skin. And yet, here is proof., France spent about 18 months filming in Moscow and Chechnya. He denies the torture outright, in other words; so does the Kremlin. 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. So I was following the footsteps of my heroes. His companions were two guides hed hired. Although some didnt. Appalling. The most nerve-wracking sequence in David Frances Welcome to Chechnya is, without doubt, the rescue of Anya. David wanted to tell the story as quickly and urgently as possible; there are enough examples, definitely. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. Like other refugees, Anya had her face replaced with a digital veil in post-production (see In Digital Disguise). A lavalier mic (considered professional gear, thus suspect) was used when safely inside the shelter. (We hear their real voices almost the entire film is subtitled. His entire family has to be moved. In Welcome to Chechnya, the third film from Academy Award nominee David France, viewers are asked to relinquish the comforts of abstraction. Chechnya, there are no homosexuals. And that included extreme security protocols while filming in Chechnya encrypting the footage and smuggling it out of the country. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. (The films cinematographer, Askold Kurov, stepped aside for this mission since its cover story required a female camera operator.). There's no time for sweeping shots of foreign. The target is Anya (a pseudonym), whose plight is revealed at the films start: Pleading for help in a phone call to Russian LGBT Network crisis response coordinator David Isteev, she explains that her uncle is threatening to reveal her lesbianism to her fathera high-ranking government officialunless she has sex with him. We come to care about them. To remain inconspicuous, only amateur camera gear was used on the film. Despite this, she managed to capture all the essentials. We still dont know what happened; watching clips of him is unsettling, and seeing the Moscow exiles speculate as to what happened to him is unexpectedly moving. After the initial gains of the Russian army, the Chechen rebels demonstrated a . It began with a drug raid when police arrested a young man and found sexually explicit images of men on his phone. From the start, a disclaimer states that certain subjects have been digitally disguised for their safety. Simply enter your email address in the box below, Joy of reunion: a happier moment in 'Welcome to Chechnya', Since propaganda of gay relationships was criminalised there in 2013, such anti-, The greater part of the action was caught on the move, with a disturbingly convincing tension. Its footage that was shot as trophies by the people who committed those crimes. hide caption. Unlike the others, Grisha is unmasked late in the film when he goes before cameras to testify about whats happening in Chechnya. 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. I want people to know whats going on there. Read that word, and digest what it means. Oscar; Crticas; . [1] Movie. Where do the new faces actually come from? Web page addresses and e-mail addresses turn into links automatically. His film reveals the ongoing danger to LGBTQ Chechens targeted for persecution and death in a campaign to 'cleanse' the republic. The step . Ryan Laney, Frances visual effects supervisor and a 30-year veteran whose credits include Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), persuaded the director that a deep-learning computer process was the easiest answer, even on a documentarys tight budget. (Photo courtesy of HBO Documentary Films via AP) "Bogdan" and his boyfriend, "Grisha," stress out as they attempt to escape from Russia. Youre forced to reckon with the nature of identityhow it can cost someone their life. 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. Harrowing and brutal, Welcome to Chechnya, France's third film, is all the more prescient right now. With little emotion, the young man explains his scars as his boyfriend touches those spots and says nothing. Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of the autonomous region of Russia, enacted a campaign in 2017 to find, imprison, torture and sometimes kill LGBTQ Chechens. All products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors. From acclaimed journalist and Oscar (R)-nominated director David France (How to Survive a Plague) comes this searing documentary about a group of brave activists risking their lives to confront the ongoing anti-LGBTQ campaign in the Russian republic of Chechnya--which has led to the torture and disappearance of untold numbers of people. He was tortured and forced to name those men, who were then also arrested, tortured and forced to name others, setting off a horrific chain reaction. We were unable to subscribe you to WBUR Today. And then theres the evidence we see for ourselves: cell phone footage of people being beaten and harassed. We dont have such people here. The fate of his call for investigation would be depressingly familiar. Welcome to Chechnya is a grimly ironic title for a documentary that plays like a chilling undercover thriller. 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. David France on His Chilling HBO Documentary Welcome to Chechnya, "Gay man takes Russia to Europe's rights court over Chechnya LGBT+ attacks", "New Reports of Gay Singer Abducted and Murdered in Chechnya", "The 18 Movies We're Dying to See at Sundance", "Final days of Adelaide Film Festival serves up more winners", "Sundance Film Festival Awards: 'Minari' Scores Double Top Honors The Complete Winners List", "Zmagovalec obinstva na 36. festivalu LGBT filma", "GLAAD Unveils Nominees For 32nd Annual GLAAD Media Awards; Deadline's New Hollywood Podcast Honored With Special Recognition Award", "VES Awards Nominations: 'Tenet', 'Midnight Sky', 'Extraction', 'Soul' & 'Mandalorian' Among Titles In Visual Effects Hunt", "BAFTA TV 2021: The Winners and Nominations for the Virgin Media British Academy Television Awards and British Academy Television Craft Awards", "Ted Lasso, The Handmaid's Tale, and Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist lead Inaugural HCA TV Awards Nominations Hollywood Critics Association", BAFTA TV Award for Best International Programme, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Welcome_to_Chechnya&oldid=1132475176, Documentary films about violence against LGBT people, Short description is different from Wikidata, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, U.S. Vanity Fair may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers. Its not a story about me, France says simply. Like all great political documentaries, Welcome to Chechnya is a call to action. While Lapunovs identity is kept secret this way through most of the film, his real face is shown when he goes to court to sue the Russian government for failing to protect him from what his lawyers argue was unlawful arrest, detention, torture and discrimination. 2023 Cond Nast. Its not legal to encrypt in Russia, so we were taking a risk, France notes. Within two weeks of David France reading an article in The New Yorker about the persecution of LGBTQ people in Chechnya, he was on a plane headed to Moscow. Nor did the editing and VFX suites in New York. Frances provocative solution is Welcome to Chechnya, the unsettling film that debuted Tuesday on HBO and involves extensive postproduction work: It marshals advanced computer technology to superimpose supple, completely fabricated faces over 23 hunted individuals. Agents warned Ivanova she couldnt film. The First Chechen War explains a lot of what Russia and Putin are doing in Ukraine today: On New Year's Eve, 1994 Russian tanks and infantry fighting vehicles poured into the streets of Grozny with an assault expected to snuff out the self-declared Chechcen Republic of Ichkeria, as black smoke poured into the sky from oil tanks set ablaze by a dawn artillery bombardment. Many of the faces we see are actually the faces of people from outside Chechnya, who lent their likenesses to the film. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. 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. 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. It was released on June 30, 2020 by HBO Films. Catch up on the years best movies, whether in theaters or now streaming at home. Advocacy meets suspense in "Welcome to Chechnya," a chilling examination of both the brutality that the Chechen LGBT community is forced to face on a daily basis and the difficulty of leaving. Ramzan Kadyrov, President of Chechnya, initially denied casualties among his fighters, but on February 28 he acknowledged the deaths of two Chechen servicemen, while not giving their names. To avoid exposing their work, it was shot in secret, using hidden cameras, cell phones, GoPros, and handycams. Its there that he first met the men and women who are featured in his new documentary Welcome to Chechnya, which premieres Tuesday on HBO. 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. Whats not obvious in the filmthough not on purposeis that this shot was taken from the backup teams taxi, not Anyas. Like most of the victims in Welcome to Chechnya, Grishas identity is hidden with deep fake technology. And as in Frances first film, the people most in desperate need of help have once again been abandoned to their own devices. The main location we saw was one of the Moscow safe houses that provided a temporary home for those en route to somewhere else; its routine of wary everyday life, interspersed by periodic departures for the airport, seemed almost normal until painfully broken by a traumatised young man attempting suicide. welcome to chechnya what happened to anya are there tigers in andaman and nicobar islands? And I was outraged that they were being forced to do this all on their own, and that the world wasnt coming to pay attention to and put pressure against the Chechen government.". A film about persecuted gay and lesbian Chechens uses digital manipulation to guard their identities without losing their humanity. Filming in Chechnya encrypting the footage and smuggling it out of the faces we see are actually the of. To Anya are there tigers in andaman and nicobar islands hadnt stepped back to the. Faces we see for ourselves: cell phone footage of people being and... 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