Channel 4 has ordered a one-off documentary following women in Russia as they try and find the men close to them who have gone missing during the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s Lost Sons (working title), an hour-long programme, was filmed over a year by filmmakers for ROMB, an independent Russian media outlet.
Women looking for their sons, brothers and husbands join forces as they contend with mostly unresponsive government offices. They are left searching morgues and trawling social media for news, in desperate hopes of finding those they have lost.
Also featured are the men who catalogue graves in cemeteries, in hopes of calculating the true Russian death toll. The documentary also makes time to speak to those who full-heartedly support Putin, and his invasion.
The programme is directed and executive produced by Evan Williams. It is produced by Evan Williams Productions, in collaboration with ROMB filmmakers, while the commission came from Nevine Mabro.
“Working together with independent Russian filmmakers, over the course of a year filming with extreme care and sensitivity, Russia’s Lost Sons is able to provide a unique, personal portrait of ordinary, but very brave, Russians who in their own way are also victims of Putin’s war,” said Williams.
