Who Are the Russians in the Documentaries? Analysing the Everyday in Russian TV Documentary Films

This paper explores the production of Russian TV documentaries between 2012 and 2018 as the routinised everyday practice of nation building. In particular, I see TV documentary films as representing an essential component in constructing Russian national identity. I analyse the phenomenon of recent TV production where Russian television screens are saturated with a new documented reality. I examine the transformation of the genre of the documentary film in practice, considering the way facts are presented, the way the notion of truth is framed and how the new genre impacts on and mediates the construction of Russian identity. I look at documentary films offered by Russia 1, Channel One, NTV, TV Centre and OTR. In order to demonstrate the whole universe of films that are reconstituting the Russian nation on TV, I identify the main topics of the films and their markers of national identity. To understand the everyday routine of TV documentaries and the way they influence audiences’ opinions and views, I explore how audiovisual tools and narratives are used to perform and reiterate the following themes: leader and nation; war and peace; the land; science and technology; the Orthodox church and faith; nostalgia for the past; Crimea. Crucially, the documentaries offer an insight into the essential question: who are we as Russians?

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