Real Cinema: Anna Artemyeva

Vitaly Mansky walks along the shore of Lake Issyk-Kul with Anna Artemyeva, director of The Returnees, winner of the Grand Prix at Artdocnet 2026. For Mansky, Kyrgyzstan has become a place where he can meet and talk with colleagues from Russia. Artemyeva continues to live and work in Russia, at Novaya Gazeta, pursuing journalism and documentary storytelling.

Their conversation explores how to make films about war under censorship, where the line lies between trying to understand someone and justifying their actions, what happens to people after they return from the front, and whether documentary cinema can remain honest. Mansky and Artemyeva debate the film "Russians at War", propaganda and the filmmaker’s responsibility, the limits of what is acceptable in documentary cinema, and why, even in the fiercest disagreement, it is important to continue seeing each other as human beings.