A Journey to Gagauzia
PREMIERE

Thursday 8 October – 2 PM

A Journey to Gagauzia
Premiere

A film by Manon Loizeau

A Journey to Gagauzia is a journey into a timeless land that has become Moscow’s Trojan horse at the heart of Europe.
The name alone evokes a journey into an imaginary, anachronistic realm that might echo Hergé’s Syldavia.
In recent times, Gagauzia – a pro-Russian autonomous region in the heart of Moldova, on Ukraine’s southern border – has become a strategic pawn in the Great Game between East and West. Moscow has turned it into a training ground for waging its hybrid war against the pro-European Moldova of President Maia Sandu.
We were granted unique access to local propagandists, Moscow’s mouthpieces, and uncovered the scale of Russia’s strategies of infiltration and manipulation. Millions of euros have been invested in the mass buying of voters’ votes, and training camps in Russia for hundreds of Gagauz students and teachers. A veritable laboratory of destabilisation. Along the way, we met those who are resisting the Kremlin’s propaganda: Dima, who lives in a village on the Ukrainian border where Russian drones regularly fall; he is the only person in his village to look towards Europe, whilst the rest of the inhabitants watch official Russian channels on a continuous loop; the editorial team of the online media outlet Nokta – the only pro-European media outlet in Gagauzia; and students.
As President Maia Sandu tells us in the face of Russian attacks, “for Moldova, the only way to continue to exist as a democracy in the long term is to be part of the European Union; it is a matter of great urgency; it is a matter of survival”.

Production: Squawk Juliette Guignon, Arte G.E.I.E. Hérade Feist

Director of Photography: Alexandra Dalsbaek

Editor: Raynald Lellouche

The screening will be followed by a discussion with Manon Loizeau

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Halle ô Grains
66, rue Saint-Jean
Free Admission
Duration: 25 min