Lyuba’s Hope follows lawyer-activist-political candidate Lyubov Sobol, formerly the head of Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation. She is an idealistic corruption fighter who has survived hunger strikes, attempted poisoning, multiple arrests, and exile, as she plans for a democratic post-Putin Russia.
Lyubov Sobol is a human rights activist from Russia. A staunch advocate for the democratization of Russia, she previously served as a lawyer for Alexei Navalny’s Anti-Corruption Foundation and played a role in several significant investigations in Russia, including those against Yevgeny Prigozhin, the deceased owner of the private military company Wagner. In addition to her legal pursuits, Sobol has a strong online presence: she operates a YouTube channel with over 600,000 subscribers, where she covers topics including corruption in Putin’s regime, the war in Ukraine, and other current events. Her efforts have been recognized with the Sergei Magnitsky Award, honoring her contributions to the fight for democracy in Russia. In 2019, the BBC included her in the Leadership category on its list of 100 Inspiring and Influential Women from around the world.
Reviews
“Despite war and repression, there are Russians who are still willing to risk everything for justice and a better life. In “Lyuba’s Hope,” Marianna Yarovskaya and Paul Gregory tell the gripping story of Lyubov Sobol, a woman who fought alongside the late Alexei Navalny to hold Russia’s corrupt leaders to account. The film cuts between scenes showing Lyuba’s personal efforts and the history of recent Russian civil resistance on the eve of Putin’s full scale invasion of Ukraine. In the process, it offers not just a cross section of Russian life but also the qualities that are needed if Putin is to face resistance from where it may matter the most, from his own people.”
David Satter,
Journalist and historian, author of The Less You Know, the Better You Sleep: Russia’s Road to Terror and Dictatorship under Yeltsin and Putin.
“At a time when the U.S. government is moving closer to Vladmir Putin’s autocratic Russia, it’s important to remind the world just how repressive is his regime. Lyuba’s Hope, the riveting new documentary by Marianna Yarovskaya and Paul Gregory, dramatically illustrates the cost of dissent in today’s Russia. The film painfully documents the price of resistance, yet, at the same time, highlights the courage of those struggling to fight corruption and repression. The film artfully weaves Lyubov Sobol’s personal story with recent historical events to create a revealing and moving portrait of a brave woman fighting for a more democratic and just society.”
Mark Jonathan Harris, Emeritus Distinguished Professor School of Cinematic Arts University of Southern California Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker
“Lyubov Sobol is one of the heroes of Putin’s Russia. As an accomplished Moscow lawyer, she started working with Alexey Navalny in 2011 and she became one of his closest collaborators. She carried out serious investigations of the corruption of the Putin regime and she became a Youtube star publicizing her investigations. As repression became ever worse in Russia under Putin, Lyubov was arrested time and again and her family targeted, as Marianna Yarovskaya and Paul Gregory’s film Lyuba’s Hope illustrates so well. In August 2021, she found herself forced to flee from Russia all of a sudden. Otherwise, she would have faced a more serious arrest. She escaped via Turkey to Estonia and now to Washington. Lyubov Sobol is one of the heroes of our time standing up for freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
“This film is important for many reasons. It shows that women can and should become the driving force in Russia’s male-dominated politics. It also proves that Russian opposition can and should promote new leaders. Many critics of Alexei Navalny have often accused him of his alleged focus on himself. Lyuba’s story is an important example where Alexei and other members of his team were supportive of Lyuba’s growth as an independent political leader who became the star of 2019 Moscow City Parliament election campaign. It also shows the difficult personal and family choices that a young anti-Putin female politician has to make and the costs these choices involve. For a better understanding of Russia’s and Europe’s future, Lyuba’s story deserves to be told and heard by as many people around the world as possible.”
