Welcome to Chechnya

Original title: Welcome to Chechnya (USA, 2020)

Director: David France

Cast: Maxim Lapunov, Olga Baranova, David Isteev

Genre: Documentary

Plot: The film recounts cruel and brutal everyday life episodes. A video fragment shows a group of men chasing a moped on which a couple is holding a rainbow flag, until they overturn it and beat up the passengers.
Another fragment depicts two boys cruelly beating up a homosexual who is just as young. In addition to the images of violence, there are phone calls, and direct and reported testimonies of those who have suffered abuse of all kinds. The documentary recounts, with disconcerting accuracy, the persecution LGBT+ people have been subject to since 2017 in the Chechen Republic.

Notes: Winner of the Special Jury Prize for Editing at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and the Panorama Audience Award for Best Documentary at the 70^th Berlinale — Berlin International Film Festival.