ROLE: Director, producer, director of photography
DURATION: 27 minutes
BROADCASTER: RT Documentary
AVAILABLE IN: English, Russian












People often move to large cities in hopes of a better life. In Russia, many are driven by unemployment and debt, with over 20 million living below the poverty line (and that’s just the official statistics). But their search for a new beginning can lead to enslavement: unpaid exploitation, often accompanied by violence, sexual abuse and forced detention.
“One can find modern-day slavery in any large city with over a million people,” says the founder of the "Alternativa" movement, Oleg Melnikov. Modern day slavery in Russia comes in three forms: involuntary prostitution, forced labour and beggars’ mafias. As the only European country that did not sign the Council of Europe Convention Against Human Trafficking, Russia does not have the appropriate legal means to define and punish modern slavery.
“Alternativa” is the only organization in Russia rescuing people from modern slavery. This is their story.
ROLE: Director, producer, director of photography
DURATION: 27 minutes
BROADCASTER: RT Documentary
AVAILABLE IN: English, Russian