Welcome to Chechnya

Welcome to Chechnya is a 2020 American documentary film, directed by David France.[1] The film centres on the anti-gay purges in Chechnya of the late 2010s, interviewing various LGBT Chechnyan refugees about their experiences.[1]

Welcome to Chechnya
Official poster
Directed byDavid France
Produced byDavid France
Alice Henty
Askold Kurov
Joy A. Tomchin
Written by
  • David France
  • Tyler H. Walk
Music by
  • Evgueni Galperine
  • Sacha Galperine
Cinematography
  • Askold Kurov
  • Derek Wiesehahn
Edited byTyler H. Walk
Production
company
  • Public Square Films
  • HBO Documentary Films
  • Ninety Thousand Words
  • Maylo Films
  • BBC Storyville
Distributed byHBO Films
Release date
  • January 26, 2020 (2020-01-26) (Sundance)
  • June 30, 2020 (2020-06-30) (United States)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Russian
Chechen

It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020 and was released on June 30, 2020, by HBO Films.

Production

The film's production was complicated by the need to protect the interviewees' safety by not showing their appearances on screen; however, France wanted to place a real human face on the story, and thus did not want to use conventional techniques of disguising the appearance of an interview guest, such as blurring their faces, filming them in darkness or hiring actors to perform a staged re-enactment. Accordingly, he opted to use advanced facial replacement techniques from visual effects technology, so that the viewer could clearly see real faces displaying real emotions while still protecting the identities of the speakers.[2]

Release

The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival,[3] and screened at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. It was released on June 30, 2020.[4]

Reception

On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 55 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."[5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[6]

Accolades
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 [7]
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

References
  1. Mike Fleming, Jr. "HBO Documentary Films Lands Sundance-Bound ‘Welcome To Chechnya’, About Harsh Plight Of LGBTQ Community In Russian Republic". Deadline Hollywood, December 12, 2019.
  2. Anne Thompson, "Sundance 2020: How VFX Pulled ‘Welcome to Chechnya’ Out of the Shadows — Exclusive". IndieWire, January 22, 2020.
  3. Lawson, Richard (January 22, 2020). "The 18 Movies We're Dying to See at Sundance". Vanity Fair.
  4. Dry, Jude (May 20, 2020). "'Welcome to Chechnya' Trailer: David France's Groundbreaking LGBTQ Documentary". IndieWire. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
  5. "Welcome to Chechnya (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on February 10, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  6. "Welcome to Chechnya (2020)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  7. Hipes, Patrick (February 1, 2020). "Sundance Film Festival Awards: 'Minari' Scores Double Top Honors – The Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
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