Welcome to Chechnya
| 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 |
|
| 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 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]
It had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2020. It is scheduled to be 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 is scheduled to be released on June 30, 2020.[4]
Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 100% based on 12 reviews.[5] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 91 out of 100 based on 6 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
- ^ a b 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.
- ^ Anne Thompson, "Sundance 2020: How VFX Pulled ‘Welcome to Chechnya’ Out of the Shadows — Exclusive". IndieWire, January 22, 2020.
- ^ Lawson, Richard (January 22, 2020). "The 18 Movies We're Dying to See at Sundance". Vanity Fair.
- ^ Dry, Jude (May 20, 2020). "'Welcome to Chechnya' Trailer: David France's Groundbreaking LGBTQ Documentary". IndieWire. Retrieved May 25, 2020.
- ^ "Welcome to Chechnya (2020)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Archived from the original on February 10, 2020. Retrieved June 7, 2020.
- ^ "Welcome to Chechnya (2020)". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 29, 2020. Retrieved February 29, 2020.
- ^ Hipes, Patrick (February 1, 2020). "Sundance Film Festival Awards: 'Minari' Scores Double Top Honors – The Complete Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 2, 2020.
External links
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