| Welcome to Chechnya | |
|---|---|
 Official poster | |
| Directed by | David France |
| Written by |
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| Produced by | David France Alice Henty Askold Kurov Joy A. Tomchin |
| Cinematography |
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| Edited by | Tyler H. Walk |
| Music by | |
Production companies |
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| Distributed by | HBO Films |
Release dates |
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Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Languages | English Russian Chechen |
Welcome to Chechnya (Russian:Добро пожаловать в Чечню,romanized: Dobro pozhalovat' v Chechnyu) is a 2020documentary film by American reporter, author and documentarianDavid France.[1] The film centers on theanti-gay purges in Chechnya of the late 2010s, filming LGBT Chechen refugees using hidden cameras as they made their way out ofRussia through a network of safehouses aided by activists.[1]
It had its world premiere at theSundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020 and was released on June 30, 2020, byHBO Films.
The film follows the work of activists rescuing survivors of torture in Chechnya. To avoid exposing their work, it was shot in secret, using hidden cameras, cell phones, GoPros, and handycams.[2]
Further complicating the production of the film was the need to protect the identities of interviewees. 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. Eventually he opted for advancedfacial replacement techniques using artificial intelligence and novelvisual effects technology so the viewer could see real faces displaying real emotions while still protecting the identities of the speakers.[3] The approach is a "game changer in identity protection", according to Documentary Magazine, and a brand new tool for documentary filmmakers.[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. Instead, they edited the film in a windowless room in order to keep with security protocols.[5]
One of the refugees, Maxim Lapunov, is publicly identified in the film, as he sought, and failed, to get legal redress from Russian authorities.[6]
The mysterious disappearance of gay Chechen singerZelim Bakaev after a visit to Grozny for his sister's wedding in August 2017[7] also receives a brief mention in the film.
The film premiered at the2020 Sundance Film Festival,[8] and screened at the70th Berlin International Film Festival. It was released on June 30, 2020 byHBO Films.[9][10]
It was shown at theAdelaide Film Festival in October 2020.[11]
The film received universal critical acclaim, holdingan approval rating of 100% onRotten Tomatoes based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "An illuminating and urgent call to action,Welcome to Chechnya portrays the horrors of the mass persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in the Chechen Republic with tenacity and tenderness."[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]
| Award | Date of ceremony | Category | Recipient(s) | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sundance Film Festival | February 1, 2020 | U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing | Tyler H. Walk | Won | [14] |
| U.S. Documentary Competition Grand Jury Prize | David France | Nominated | |||
| Berlin International Film Festival | February 28, 2020 | Teddy Activist Award | David Isteev, Olga Baranova, Maxim Lapunov | Won | |
| March 1, 2020 | Panorama Publikumspreis (audience award) for Best Documentary | David France | Won | ||
| Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival | December 20, 2020 | Pink Dragon Audience Award | Welcome to Chechnya | Won | [15] |
| GLAAD Media Awards | April 8, 2021 | Outstanding Documentary | Nominated | [16] | |
| Visual Effects Society Awards | April 6, 2021 | Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature | Ryan Laney, Eugen Bräunig, Maxwell Anderson, Johnny Han and Piers Dennis | Nominated | [17] |
| Directors Guild of America Awards | April 10, 2021 | Outstanding Directional Achievement in Documentary | David France | Nominated | [18] |
| British Academy Television Awards | June 6, 2021 | Best International Programme | David France, Alice Henty, Askold Kurov and Joy A Tomchin | Won | [19] |
| Hollywood Critics Association | August 29, 2021 | Best Broadcast Network or Cable Docuseries, Documentary Television Movie, or Non-Fiction Series | Welcome to Chechnya | Won | [20] |
| Primetime Emmy Awards | September 18, 2021 | Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking | Alice Henty, David France, Joy A. Tomchin, Askold Kurov and Igor Myakotin | Nominated | [21] |
| Cinema for Peace awards | February 24, 2023 | The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year | Welcome to Chechnya | Won |