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Film Details
Format: Feature length film
A fast-moving impression of the turbulent rise and fall of Russian TV channel Dozhd. The name means “rain,” because its creator—the champagne-loving socialite Natasha Sindeeva—associates rain with freedom. Former business partner Vera Krichevskaya guides us through the story of Natasha and her wealthy husband Sasha. Through archive footage and interviews, we see the fairytale beginning, when Natasha saw her dream of an “optimistic channel” come true. But we also see how the state, under Vladimir Putin’s leadership, each year further tightens the thumbscrews on the free-spirited broadcaster.
Nevertheless, Dozhd grows to become a unique icon of independent political reporting. When the channel starts broadcasting via YouTube in 2019, viewing figures rise to the tens of millions. Meanwhile, Natasha’s dream-project has been classified by the government as a “foreign agent.” Despite her optimism and fighting spirit, she increasingly suffers from sleepless nights. The question arises: what should she do with this successful TV channel now that it is putting the lives of its staff in danger?
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Reviews
Its wider look at the challenges facing Russian journalists is the film’s strong point.
Grimly compelling, and depressingly relevant.
As a tribute to dogged journalism, the film would be welcome any time. Now it feels more urgent still.
Krichevskaya is perhaps over-infatuated with her subject, but then Sindeeva seems like quite a character.
Krichevskaya is the right kind of observer here on paper. But there’s too little airing of her own views at the time of walking out, when she didn’t have faith in Dozhd’s true independence
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