Welcome to Chechnya

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1:49

Welcome to Chechnya

2020

1h 47m

Documentary

LGBTQ+

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Tomatometer

Popcornmeter

100%

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74 Reviews

75%

Popcornmeter

100+ Ratings

Activists risk their lives to confront Russian leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his government-directed campaign to detain, torture and execute LGBTQ Chechens.

Critics Consensus

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.

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Anita Singh

Daily Telegraph (UK)

12/30/2020

4/5

Welcome to Chechnya: The Gay Purge. brought home the horror with a dramatic urgency. David France's grimly compelling film was a docu-thriller, with heart-stopping moments as activists spirited people out of the country in clandestine operations.

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Alex Davidson

Sight & Sound

12/30/2020

France sensitively draws out the personalities of his subjects, ensuring that, despite the digital disguises and pseudonyms, they emerge as distinct individuals.

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Rebecca Nicholson

Guardian

12/30/2020

5/5

David France has made a difficult, distressing and often tremendously bleak film about the torture and murder of LGBT people in Chechnya, and the brave efforts of community activists and organisers to "extract" them from the region.

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Joonatan Itkonen

Region Free

07/18/2024

5/5

WELCOME TO CHECHNYA comes with the highest of content warnings.... It should traumatize us into action. Anything less would be too easy to brush away. The images seen will sear into the mind.

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Josh Parham

Next Best Picture

06/05/2022

7/10

The balance between the macro-political perspective with the more intimate personal stories is well-executed, giving the full context of what these people are going through and the sense of urgency felt in their desperate situations.

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Brian T. Carney

Washington Blade

05/19/2022

An urgent call to arms.

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Garry A

@heavyg Feb 7

The first hand accounts in the videos capturing physical coercion and bodily harm to people suspected of being gay is it's hard to watch sometimes but it is sobering and brings attention to a plight that isn't discussed very much.

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Stephen C

@bob25009 Jun 11

Success in 1 hour and 47 minutes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! In Russian and English versions with English subtitles!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The director can't be stopped!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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F L

@RT24057292 05/09/2024

Impactful, chilling, compelling.

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03/16/2021

Abstract: Tremendous documentary by David France that shows us the actions of the NGO Russian LGTB Network. A strong complaint about the discriminatory, repressive and criminal policy of the Chechen government against its LGBTQ population, involving their families as repressive agents, in a country whose president, the confessed homophobe Kadyrov, has the explicit support of Putin. Extracto: Tremendo documental de David France que nos muestra el arresgado accionar de la ONG Russian LGTB Network. Una fuerte denuncia sobre la criminal política discriminatoria y represiva del gobierno checheno contra su población LGBTQ, en la que involucra a sus familias como agentes represivos, en un país cuyo presidente, el homófobo confeso Kadýrov, cuenta con el apoyo explícito de Putin.

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dave d

@RT34924333 03/11/2021

Documentarian David France chronicles the anti-gay purges in Chechnya during the late 2010s. LGBT Chechen refugees with the help of hidden cameras give the viewer an inside look at how they get out of Russia through a network of safehouses aided by activists who are trying to shed light on the human rights abuses in Chechnya. The faces in the film are not real, but they are computer generated because they would not be safe if recognized. This story should be on national news every day until queer people stop being killed for no reason. This is a very tough watch and a break or two may be needed just to wrap your mind around what you just saw. Final Score: 9/10

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07/28/2020

Some of the bravest men and women I have ever seen. A sobering documentary that everyone should see.

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Director

Olga Baranova

Self

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Maxim Lapunov

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David France

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Welcome to Chechnya: Trailer 1

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Synopsis

Activists risk their lives to confront Russian leader Ramzan Kadyrov and his government-directed campaign to detain, torture and execute LGBTQ Chechens.

Director: David France
Producer: David France, Alice Henty, Askold Kurov, Joy A. Tomchin
Screenwriter: David France, Tyler H. Walk
Production Co: Ninety Thousand Words, Bertha Doc Society Journalism Fund, Public Square Films, BBC Storyville, Maylo Films, Palette Fund
Genre: Documentary, LGBTQ+
Original Language: Russian
Release Date (Streaming): Jul 3, 2020
Runtime: 1h 47m

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