Of caravan and the dogs

Since 2012, a series of repressive laws were passed by the Government labelling everyone who publicly disagreed with the official narrative as ‘foreign agent’, a traitor of Russia. In these circumstances, a group of independent Russian media and activists whith two Nobel Peace Prize winners – Dmitriy Muratov of Novaya azeta, and the NGO Memorial – among them are trying to resist and continue their work. Right after the invasion, another series of repressive laws is passed and overnight their work becomes virtually impossible. The journalists and activists are threatened with long prison sentences and forced to make difficult moral choices in the midst of total war censorship: should they stay or leave the country, should they go to jail or save their team, should they adapt to the new reality or stay true to their principals and close their media? Shot during one decisive year, before and after the invasion, the film portrays the last defenders of democracy in Russia and gives a glimpse of hope for another future.