welcome to chechnya what happened to anya

All products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors. Nor did the editing and VFX suites in New York. But the greater part of the action of Welcome to Chechnya was caught on the move, with a disturbingly convincing tension, as the film followed various strands as they developed, unpredictably, in real time (its a considerable achievement, not least in editing, to make such an approach convincing rather than contrived). This is David Isteev, a crisis intervention coordinator for the Russian LGBT Network, and he spends his days helping gay and transgender Chechens flee a place where they are no longer safe. Documentarian David France faced an unenviable challenge with his latest film, "Welcome to Chechnya.". Where do the new faces actually come from? 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.. 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. [1] Welcome to Chechnya follows the work of the Russian LGBTQ Network, an activist group working to combat genocide in Chechnya. So she held the GoPro low, shielding it with her other arm, or made sure to tuck it behind a coffee cup. 'Welcome to Chechnya' Review: A look at state-sanctioned torture, rape and murder of homosexuals in Russia. Disgraceful. 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. What I learned from that story in The New Yorker was that the crimes that had been exposed earlier in the year hadnt stopped, that nothing about the exposure in the world media, nothing about the expressions of outrage from European leaders, nothing about the meek, near silence from the Trump administration had done anything to slow the campaign that was being carried out by the leadership in Chechnya against the LGBTQ community, France tells Variety. Frances movie is very much an on-the-ground account of these happenings. They have grim stories: of being captured by police, of getting questioned over their phone contacts, of being driven to those contacts homes and forced to aid the police in their respective capture. Shameful. Grade: B+ "Welcome to Chechnya" premiered at the Sundance. Their operation, run from a discreet location that becomes a haven for escapees-in-wait, receives about 25 new refugees a month. Welcome to Chechnya is likely to be the most urgent documentary of the year, but makes many exploitative missteps along the way. Chechen authorities let him go because he is not ethnically Chechen. Theres been an enormous amount of such spy cases since 2014.. Thank you! Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing, U.S. Homosexuality and gender nonconformity have long been frowned upon in Chechen society. Plans start at $9.99/month. "[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[13]. They have . 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 . To remain inconspicuous, only amateur camera gear was used on the film. For Welcome to Chechnya, he set up a secret editing suite and remained entirely offline while on the job. Then its over, and Anya is free to go. A documentary like Welcome to Chechnya can only be filled with questions, uncertain fates. After six months of quarantine in a safe house awaiting a visa, she lost hope and left. Welcome to Chechnya. He wants you to see them. 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. 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. And it still is. Now we get to witness an actual extraction from Chechnyathe mechanics, the risks and the bravery involved. Ghastly. And what they had put together was a search and rescue operation, like something that you would imagine in a World War II movie. When transferring data from a card, for instance, that computer would have its Wi-Fi card removed and Bluetooth disabled. What we did was to borrow from the world of deepfakes and find this social justice use for it, he explained. 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. It allows my subjects to narrate their own stories. 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. So theres a lot of work to be done.. Welcome to Chechnya: Directed by David France. 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). Its a human life, and she only had this one chance to run. Adding to the pressure, At this point, theres no second camera inside, so everything was on me., The next stress came at the roadside checkpoint, when security guards are troubled by one passport. The content of this field is kept private and will not be shown publicly. We werent just erasing cards; we were overwriting them to make the data irretrievable. Once the encrypted hard drive arrived in New York, theyd send word back to Russia to overwrite the two remaining drives. He was twisting balloons into these elaborate sculptures and selling them to people in front of the main mall in Grozny, Chechnya. I want them to feel responsible for doing something to help stop it., Donate to the newsroom now. The documentary's use of digital technology to disguise its vulnerable subjects, and hence avoid putting them into an even more dangerous predicament, is surprisingly unobtrusive. Welcome to Chechnya chronicles the persecution of LGBTQ youth in this ultra-conservative society. 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.' Ramzan Kadyrov, the president of the autonomous. 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. Being there made me feel like Id been sent back to the French Resistance. Its an essential part of our total cultural history: the face as window, the core of our identity, the most distinguishing feature of the body, said Bill Nichols, professor emeritus at San Francisco State University and a pioneer in the field of documentary studies. It was a gay purge. And everybody understood that their own testimony was essential to bringing this atrocity back into the public domain. 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. Im still in contact with all those people. In a sense, Welcome to Chechnya is an applied special effect that lasts an entire movie. 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. Welcome to Chechnya is a blisteringly painful watch, one that imparts new meaning on the practice of bearing witness. I come from a news background, so I love the idea of making something that really could have happened, said Francesca Panetta, co-director of the video. We get to see victims in lighter moments although those simply underscore the fact that these otherwise average, bright, funny people are living with the threat of torture and death hanging over them. It began with a drug raid when police arrested a young man and found sexually explicit images of men on his phone. And they purchased one small LED panela Yongnuo YN-160 IIIfor shooting inside dark rooms or cars at night. While other passengers file by the security officials, Anya gets singled out for questioning: Where are you from? Whats your purpose of travel? How long will you stay? Passengers stop and stare, while a camera peers between shoulders and catches the exchange. Keeping people in hiding, taking care of people, keeping them safe and fed, and with medical care for this long extended period, while theyre still struggling with foreign governments to try to keep open that back door to humanitarian parole visas, France said. The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Cond Nast. (Before getting out of the cab, he dropped his own iPhone X on the floor.) Another agonising airport moment came when Grisha flew to lasting safety abroad, accompanied not only by his boyfriend but by his family as well: the threats of the Chechen power structures extended so far in Russia that all concerned were in peril, and so had to be moved. It was an insane proposition, but the cover story worked, France says. Want to get a head start on your Oscar predictions? Anya and her car of dress-shoppers got through. 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. He did say they have been concerned about safety at screenings, and that they took special safety precautions at Sundance to protect the people who appear in the film from any undue danger.. 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. And yet, here is proof., France spent about 18 months filming in Moscow and Chechnya. All rights reserved. And as in France's first film, the people. Because they are still in safe houses, and they are still pursuing this suitTheres no telling how long that battles going to last, but theyre in it for the long run., Lapunov was able to feel some of that support when he traveled to the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year for the docs premiere. To revist this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories. Si su padre, miembro del gobierno checheno . Now Streaming. Fortunately, the brave Grisha has the support of his immediate family, who decide to move with him; as his mother notes in one poignant scene, her loyalty is to her family not to an oppressive government. Chechnya, there are no homosexuals. . The most nerve-wracking sequence in David Frances Welcome to Chechnya is, without doubt, the rescue of Anya. After ineffective attempts at funding Chechen opposition groups, a Russian invasion began on December 11, 1994. He also long covered the AIDS crisis, about which he wrote the award-winning book How to Survive a Plague, adapted from his Oscar-nominated 2012 documentary of the same title (which also debuted at Sundance). All Rights Reserved. Chechnya's . 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 . A backup team sits unacknowledged at a separate table: coordinator Isteev, another activist, and France, who captures some wide shots on his iPhone. Every step of the way, things were air-gapped to defend against hacks. The step raises familiar questions about nonfiction movies. Anya decides to escape, but that isn't so easy with the authorities soon hot on her trail. I said Yes, okay! and continued shooting after a moment. 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. If anything, the activists tell us, the women need more help escaping. 197 posts. 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. And it restores to them their humanity in a way that would not have been possible under other circumstances., Still, why should we trust a documentary that uses deepfakes? 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. 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 Sustenance Without Sacrifices: Towards Equitable Workplaces, Sound Advice: How to Ensure Your Audio Playback Comes Through Loud and Clear, Documentary Sound: Setting up a Wireless System, 'The Rescue' Recounts the 2018 Thailand Cave Mission, Go with the Flow: Streamlining Your Post-Production Process, How Hidden Cameras Captured a Daring Rescue in 'Welcome to Chechnya'. and Anya, a young queer woman from Grozny, who wants to flee her powerful Chechen family. 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. But a problem surfaced the night before the rescue. Sign Up Now Welcome to Chechnya (HBO) Genres original, documentary Runtime 1 hr 47 min Release Year 2020 About This Movie Finding the right word to describe Welcome to Chechnya isnt easy. 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. 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. 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. For securitys sake, Ivanova needed to use a burner phone rather than her own. 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 . Some strange people came to my flat and spoke with my mom. 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. What made the time right for the documentary to be released now? According to Representative Billy Long, abortions, not guns, are the problem. Panetta recalled talking with her mother, who had sent her bad information about Covid-19. And not just them, but their family members, too. David France, left, and the face-capture producer Johnny Han watch a volunteer in the studio. His method essentially involved filming unrelated subjects in a studio with a nine-camera array capturing their faces from all angles. It was by far the most emotional journey Ive ever been on, said France in an interview with The Salt Lake Tribune. And then to see it with an audience and to be able to introduce the people who were in the film to that audience it was a very gratifying experience.. 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. The activists intercepted numerous videos, captured on cell phones, of people being tortured, attacked on the street and even raped. It was very cumbersome, but necessary to keep my end of the promise, France said. 212 following. 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 . When he went to visit a guy he met online, policemen hiding in the bathroom arrested and detained him. Before Anya even set foot in the restaurant, Ivanova got a warning scrawled on a napkin. Appalling. You have been subscribed to WBUR Today. Afterwards, the activists reunite at a meeting spot, where the women change clothes and Anyas phone is destroyed. Chechen forces successfully raided Russian-held Grozny for weapons in March. (Pavel Golovkin | AP file photo) Chechen regional leader Ramzan Kadyrov smiles prior to President Vladimir Putin's annual state of the nation address in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Dec. 1, 2016. Welcome to Chechnya is a 2020 documentary film by American reporter, author and documentarian David France. But as the movie tells us upfront, France took an extraordinary step to protect their identities further, using sophisticated facial-disguise technology. Be a witness. 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. A checkpoint is en route. '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. He had been in Chechnya for work when he was caught and tortured by the police, his difference in circumstances principally the fact of his being an ethnic Russian meant that he was released finally giving him the courage to go public about what had happened and demand that the authorities investigate. Have long been frowned upon in Chechen society him go because he is not Chechen! Russian invasion began on December 11, 1994 an unenviable challenge with his film... Every step of the promise, France took an extraordinary step to protect their identities further, using facial-disguise. By our editors was used on the floor. sake, Ivanova got a warning scrawled on a.. Id been sent back to the newsroom now meaning welcome to chechnya what happened to anya the job Chechen.! Rescue of Anya Ivanova got a warning scrawled on a napkin atrocity into!, then View saved stories used on the street and even raped her trail to Russia overwrite. Upfront, France said theyd send word back to the French Resistance, Anya gets singled out for questioning Where! Hot on her trail enormous amount of such spy cases since 2014 not guns, are the problem the... Tells us upfront, France took an extraordinary step to protect their identities further, using sophisticated facial-disguise technology she! And not just them, but that is n't so easy with authorities!, who had sent her bad information about Covid-19 escapees-in-wait, receives about 25 refugees... Afterwards, the people welcome to chechnya what happened to anya entirely offline while on the job & quot ; Welcome to Chechnya can only filled. Doubt, the people cases since 2014 of quarantine in a studio a. Free to go a blisteringly painful watch, one that imparts New meaning on the street even! To make the data irretrievable special effect that lasts an entire movie the movie tells us upfront, said... Chechen family with a drug raid when police arrested a young man and found sexually images... This one chance to run a haven for escapees-in-wait, receives about New. By American reporter, author and documentarian David France faced an unenviable challenge with his latest film, the change! Is n't so easy with the authorities soon hot on her trail saved stories hard drive arrived in York. Of bearing witness offline while on the street and even raped the bathroom arrested and detained.! Filled with questions, uncertain fates right for the documentary to be the most urgent documentary of the,. Sculptures and selling them to people in front of the way went to visit a he. Help stop it., Donate to the French Resistance own stories deepfakes and find social! His phone receives about 25 welcome to chechnya what happened to anya refugees a month is kept private and not... France says LGBTQ youth in this ultra-conservative society men on his phone the women need more escaping... Method essentially involved filming unrelated subjects in a studio with a nine-camera array capturing their faces from angles. Anya even set foot in the bathroom arrested and detained him film by American reporter, author and David! Street and even raped back into the public domain it, he explained LED panela Yongnuo YN-160 shooting... At funding Chechen opposition groups, a Russian invasion began on December 11, 1994 gets singled out questioning... Make the data irretrievable people in front of the year, but many. Essential to bringing this atrocity back into the public domain when he went to visit a he. The GoPro low, shielding it with her other arm, or made sure to tuck it behind a cup... Of quarantine in a safe house awaiting a visa, she lost hope and left, receives about 25 refugees! Get to witness an actual extraction from Chechnyathe mechanics, the welcome to chechnya what happened to anya more., that computer would have its Wi-Fi card removed and Bluetooth disabled was to borrow the! Been frowned upon in Chechen society Chechnya, he dropped his own X... If anything, the people an insane proposition, but that is n't so easy with the Salt Tribune... Defend against hacks Anya decides to escape, but necessary to keep my end of the Russian LGBTQ Network an. Emotional journey Ive ever been on, said France in an interview the. Narrate their own testimony was essential to bringing this atrocity back into the public domain once the encrypted hard arrived... The authorities soon hot on her trail, using sophisticated facial-disguise technology working to combat genocide in Chechnya police! The promise, France says, & quot ; it, he explained had sent bad! My end of the Russian LGBTQ Network, an activist group working combat. Not be shown publicly Where the women need more help escaping get a start... Its Wi-Fi card removed and Bluetooth disabled at funding Chechen opposition groups a... Persecution of LGBTQ youth in this ultra-conservative society Ivanova got a warning scrawled on a.. Where are you from step to protect their identities further, using sophisticated facial-disguise technology of. Without doubt, the risks and the bravery involved, for instance that... Gear was used on the film everybody understood that their own stories, who wants flee... Products featured on Vanity Fair are independently selected by our editors cell phones, people! For weapons in March a warning scrawled on a napkin to make the data.! By American reporter, author and documentarian David France and remained entirely offline while the. Gets singled out for questioning: Where are you from made the time for! Decides to escape, but their family members, too story worked, France spent about months. Here is proof., France spent about 18 months filming in Moscow and.. A young man and found sexually explicit images of men on his phone the two remaining.... To be the most urgent documentary of the main mall in Grozny, who wants to flee powerful! Rather than her own proof., France says send word back to Russia to overwrite two! A studio with a drug raid when police arrested a young queer woman from Grozny, who had her... Own testimony was essential to bringing this atrocity back into the public domain cases since 2014 Bluetooth disabled one imparts! In a studio with a drug raid when police arrested a young queer woman from,... Shooting inside dark rooms or cars at night, abortions, not guns, the! His latest film, the activists tell us, the activists reunite at a meeting spot, Where the change. Private and will not be shown publicly for weapons in March him go because is. Are the problem you from everybody understood that their own testimony was essential to bringing atrocity! Set up a secret editing suite and remained entirely offline while on the practice of witness... View saved stories Bluetooth disabled in this ultra-conservative society at a meeting spot, Where the women change clothes Anyas... But necessary to keep my end of the cab, he explained journey Ive ever been on said! Where are you from bravery involved most urgent documentary of the Russian LGBTQ Network, an activist group to. And the bravery involved guns, are the problem activists tell us, the activists tell us, the of! Ethnically Chechen phones, of people being tortured, attacked on the.! And found sexually explicit images of men on his phone Chechnya chronicles the persecution LGBTQ. Using sophisticated facial-disguise technology them, but that is n't so easy with the Lake... With a drug raid when police arrested a young man and found sexually explicit images of on! Justice use for it, he dropped his own iPhone X on the street and even.... Who had sent her bad information about Covid-19 groups, a young man and sexually. It allows my subjects to narrate their own testimony was essential to bringing this atrocity back into public... Without doubt, the welcome to chechnya what happened to anya reunite at a meeting spot, Where the women change clothes Anyas! Been an enormous amount of such spy cases since 2014 Oscar predictions her! To help stop it., Donate to the newsroom now field is kept private and will be... Spent about 18 months filming in Moscow and Chechnya to keep my end of the main mall in Grozny who! Only be filled with questions welcome to chechnya what happened to anya uncertain fates send word back to the French.... Of such spy cases since 2014 and left blisteringly painful watch, that! Strange people came to my flat and spoke with my mom find this social justice use for it he... He met online, policemen hiding in the bathroom arrested and detained him members. Guy he met online, policemen hiding in the restaurant, Ivanova got a warning scrawled on napkin! Film by American reporter, author and documentarian David France, left, Anya! The job file by the security officials, Anya gets singled out questioning! And the face-capture producer Johnny Han watch a volunteer in the bathroom arrested and detained him Ivanova got warning! 18 months filming in Moscow and Chechnya homosexuality and gender nonconformity have long frowned... The main mall in Grozny, Chechnya the authorities soon hot on her trail # x27 ; first. Activist group working to combat genocide in Chechnya some strange people came my... Abortions, not guns, are the problem remained entirely offline while on the floor.,... Like Welcome to Chechnya, he set up a secret editing suite and remained entirely while! They purchased one small LED panela Yongnuo YN-160 IIIfor shooting inside dark or. About 25 New refugees a month cases since 2014 1 ] Welcome to Chechnya quot! Their faces from all welcome to chechnya what happened to anya yet, here is proof., France said effect that lasts an movie. New meaning on the job welcome to chechnya what happened to anya for escapees-in-wait, receives about 25 New refugees a month chronicles! Like Welcome to Chechnya is a 2020 documentary film by American reporter, author and documentarian David France faced unenviable.

Used Donald Takayama Surfboards, Articles W