The journey for Meryl Streep to become an executive producer for director Julia Loktev's two-part documentary, 'My Undesirable Friends,' began with a nudge from an unlikely source: Colin Firth. According to a report by IndieWire, Loktev initially reached out to Firth, with whom she had previously worked on a fiction film that fell apart during COVID. She asked if he would watch her new documentary and perhaps suggest someone to help present it, ideally a woman, given the film's focus on female journalists.

Firth's suggestion was Meryl Streep. Loktev recounted the story as told by Streep herself: Firth wrote to her, stating, “You have to watch this. It’s essential.” Streep, initially rolling her eyes at the six-hour commitment amidst a busy schedule, decided to sit down out of respect for Firth, intending to watch for just 15 minutes. However, those 15 minutes stretched into nearly five and a half hours, captivating her completely.

“She sat down thinking... ‘I will sit down and watch this for 15 minutes’ — and then got up five and a half hours later,” Loktev told IndieWire. Streep was so moved by the film that she promptly offered to assist in any way she could, ultimately taking on an executive producer role to boost its profile, especially for its Venice premiere and during the awards season. Loktev affectionately described Streep as “a kind of patron saint angel.”

'My Undesirable Friends' is a monumental work, totaling nearly 12 hours across two parts. 'Part I — Last Air in Moscow,' released in 2025, captures the demise of Russia’s last independent news network, TV Rain, under Vladimir Putin in 2021. The sequel, 'Part II — Exile,' follows the network's predominantly female dissident journalists as they scatter across Europe in the aftermath of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

Loktev, a Russian-American filmmaker, employed a unique approach, working as a one-woman crew and shooting exclusively on an iPhone. This allowed her unparalleled flexibility and speed, often traveling to locations at a moment's notice. The film delves into the lives of journalists like Anna Nemzer, Elena Kostyuchenko (a suspected poisoning victim), Peter Ruzavin, and Valeria Ratnikova, capturing their resilience amidst state persecution. The project has also attracted another notable executive producer in Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, a natural fit given her history with politically charged, muckraking portraits.

Despite the film’s length and intense subject matter, Loktev encourages audiences not to be intimidated. She believes viewers need “empathy and a bit of curiosity and a sense of humor” rather than extensive political knowledge. Her aim was to create a film about Russia accessible to those unfamiliar with its complexities, allowing them to understand the situation by immersing themselves in the lives of the fleeing journalists.

Today, TV Rain continues to operate from Amsterdam, despite its hosts being declared extremists and terrorists in Russia. The Russian government relentlessly attempts to block their content, turning the dissemination of truth into a constant game of 'whack-a-mole.' 'My Undesirable Friends: Part II — Exile' is currently in select theaters, distributed by Mubi.

Related Articles