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Meryl Streep On How Fellow Oscar Winner Introduced Her To ‘My Undesirable Friends’ Documentary: “I Was Just Absolutely Entranced’
Meryl Streep says she was captivated by Julia Loktev’s documentary about Russian women journalists facing pressure for reporting independently. She is an executive producer of its second part, which follows journalists forced to leave Russia after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Streep said Colin Firth introduced her to the first film while she was working in London; she expected a 90-minute documentary but watched its five-and-a-half-hour runtime in one sitting. Part II, *Exile*, focuses on the journalists’ abrupt departures and lives in diaspora. It opened at New York’s Film Forum on 9 October and is due to open in Chicago on 5 December.
In short
- Streep says Colin Firth introduced her to the documentary.
- She watched its five-and-a-half-hour first part in one sitting.
- The second part follows Russian journalists forced into exile.
Explained simply
Russian journalists who report independently have faced increasing pressure from the authorities, including restrictions on their work and the risk of punishment. The documentary series My Undesirable Friends follows women journalists navigating that pressure.
Filmmaker Julia Loktev made the series, whose second part, Exile, follows journalists who left Russia after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. It looks at the disruption of leaving and the journalists’ lives in diaspora, the term for people living away from their home country. Meryl Streep is an executive producer of this part.