4.5/5
David France’s Welcome to Chechnya is a brutal, hard-to-watch, but deeply moving and absolutely essential documentary about the persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in Chechnya. The use of digital faces for LGBTQ+ individuals who are fleeing for their lives may be one of the best uses of digital filmmaking technology for ethical documentary ends. And it leads to one of the most moving moments in the entire film. The film has sequences that are structured a bit like a thriller, as we follow Russian activists working to get LGBTQ+ individuals out of the country by whatever means necessary. Scenes are punctuated by footage obtained by activists of the brutal torture, murder, and assault of members of the Chechen LGBTQ+ community by police, soldiers, and even members of their own families. It’s horrifying footage that drives home the need for international pressure to be placed on Russia and Chechnya (of which the Trump administration has remained silent), and for more countries to open their borders to Chechen LGBTQ+ refugees (of which the US has admitted none). It’s an important film that shows the dire consequences for persecuted communities when a country allows the bigotry and religious zealotry of one group to control an entire nation.
