Filmography
2
Vitaly Mansky walks through Riga with Zhanna Agalakova, a former news anchor and Channel One correspondent in France. They talk about the decision she made after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine: Agalakova left television, no longer willing to be part of state propaganda.
What happens to someone who has spent years working for Russia’s largest television network and at some point realizes that they can no longer remain within the system? Where is the line between journalism, responsibility, and propaganda?
Agalakova talks about leaving Channel One and the inner conflict behind that decision. She also discusses her new film, Russia today, how people live on opposite sides of the information divide, and a difficult question: can Russia be understood — and should we even try to understand it?
A walking conversation about journalism, propaganda, personal responsibility, and an attempt to make sense of a country transformed by war.
2026
26 min
On the eve of the war in Ukraine, a Russian journalist from pro-Kremlin TV channel brings her rebellious and Westernised teenage daughter on a journey through Putin’s Russia.
A sincere and captivating personal story of a Russian journalist, a familiar face on Russian state television, going through a complex journey of self-discovery and transformation – both as a journalist and as a mother – set against the backdrop of Putin’s Russia. At its heart, a burning question: How did I allow lies, hatred, and propaganda to become the norm?
Alice calls her mother’s work propaganda, but Zhanna believes that she is working for the good of her homeland. As a foreign correspondent for Russian TV she covers the major events in the Western countries from the Kremlin’s perspective and she wants to make Alice more Russian. But the girl doesn’t care about her cultural identity. She is half Russian and half Italian. She goes to French school and the family currently lives in New York. Alice doesn’t consider any country as her homeland. It is something Zhanna can’t grasp. She believes everyone should have a land to love. So Zhanna decides to show Alice the biggest country in the world. Her Motherland. Over four summers and one winter, mother and daughter travel across the length and breadth of Putin’s Russia. But as their journey unfolds, Zhanna grapples with her past, her secrets, and her identity as both a journalist and a mother—while the country edges closer to a war.
A sincere and captivating personal story of a Russian journalist, a familiar face on Russian state television, going through a complex journey of self-discovery and transformation – both as a journalist and as a mother – set against the backdrop of Putin’s Russia. At its heart, a burning question: How did I allow lies, hatred, and propaganda to become the norm?
Alice calls her mother’s work propaganda, but Zhanna believes that she is working for the good of her homeland. As a foreign correspondent for Russian TV she covers the major events in the Western countries from the Kremlin’s perspective and she wants to make Alice more Russian. But the girl doesn’t care about her cultural identity. She is half Russian and half Italian. She goes to French school and the family currently lives in New York. Alice doesn’t consider any country as her homeland. It is something Zhanna can’t grasp. She believes everyone should have a land to love. So Zhanna decides to show Alice the biggest country in the world. Her Motherland. Over four summers and one winter, mother and daughter travel across the length and breadth of Putin’s Russia. But as their journey unfolds, Zhanna grapples with her past, her secrets, and her identity as both a journalist and a mother—while the country edges closer to a war.
8
2025
90 min