Welcome to Chechnya

The film follows the work of activists rescuing survivors of torture in Chechnya. To avoid exposing their work, it was shot in secret, using hidden cameras, cell phones, GoPros, and handycams.^[2]

Further complicating the production of the film was the need to protect the identities of interviewees. France wanted to put a real human face on the story, so conventional techniques of disguising one's appearance, such as blurring their faces, filming them in darkness or hiring actors to stage re-enactments were not enough. Eventually he opted for advanced facial replacement techniques using artificial intelligence and novel visual effects technology so the viewer could see real faces displaying real emotions while still protecting the identities of the speakers.^[3] The approach is a "game changer in identity protection", according to Documentary Magazine, and a brand new tool for documentary filmmakers.^[4] To protect the identities of the interviewees, they could not move the footage across the internet nor work on it in an open studio setting. Instead, they edited the film in a windowless room in order to keep with security protocols.^[5]

One of the refugees, Maxim Lapunov, is publicly identified in the film, as he sought, and failed, to get legal redress from Russian authorities.^[6]

The mysterious disappearance of gay Chechen singer Zelim Bakaev after a visit to Grozny for his sister's wedding in August 2017^[7] also receives a brief mention in the film.

The film premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival,^[8] and screened at the 70th Berlin International Film Festival. It was released on June 30, 2020 by HBO Films.^[9][10]

It was shown at the Adelaide Film Festival in October 2020.^[11]

The film received universal critical acclaim, holding an approval rating of 100% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 72 reviews, with an average rating of 8.7/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "An illuminating and urgent call to action, Welcome to Chechnya portrays the horrors of the mass persecution of the LGBTQ+ community in the Chechen Republic with tenacity and tenderness."^[12] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 86 out of 100 based on 17 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".^[13]

Accolades

More information Award, Date of ceremony ...

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	[14]
		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
Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival	December 20, 2020	Pink Dragon Audience Award	Welcome to Chechnya	Won	[15]
GLAAD Media Awards	April 8, 2021	Outstanding Documentary		Nominated	[16]
Visual Effects Society Awards	April 6, 2021	Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature	Ryan Laney, Eugen Bräunig, Maxwell Anderson, Johnny Han and Piers Dennis	Nominated	[17]
Directors Guild of America Awards	April 10, 2021	Outstanding Directional Achievement in Documentary	David France	Nominated	[18]
British Academy Television Awards	June 6, 2021	Best International Programme	David France, Alice Henty, Askold Kurov and Joy A Tomchin	Won	[19]
Hollywood Critics Association	August 29, 2021	Best Broadcast Network or Cable Docuseries, Documentary Television Movie, or Non-Fiction Series	Welcome to Chechnya	Won	[20]
Primetime Emmy Awards	September 18, 2021	Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking	Alice Henty, David France, Joy A. Tomchin, Askold Kurov and Igor Myakotin	Nominated	[21]
Cinema for Peace awards	February 24, 2023	The Most Valuable Documentary of the Year	Welcome to Chechnya	Won

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