Video call with Lydia from Antalya confirming final timeline. Pre-production January-February 2026. Filming spring. Pilot screening Q3 2026 at Pushkin House.
Two years of collaboration led to this moment. From casual mentorship to research memos to full documentary project. Timeline makes it official.
Sixth research memo almost finished. Examines how digital platforms change storytelling for migrant writers. Instagram poetry reaching audiences traditional publishing excludes. Twitter threads as essay form. Substack newsletters building direct reader relationships outside institutional gatekeeping.
Technology creates both opportunities and pressures. Can bypass traditional publishing but also face algorithm changes, platform instability, content moderation that doesn’t understand cultural context.
The memo will be shortest. Only eight pages. But completes research phase comprehensively. Six memos covering diasporic spaces, technology and identity, consumer culture, institutional networks, and digital storytelling.
Lydia’s using all six for funding applications and documentary framework. My research systematizing what documentary will capture visually.
Production becoming scheduled reality rather than abstract plan. January I’ll be in London for pre-production meetings. Spring I’ll participate in filmed interviews alongside research consultant role.
Strange to document while being documented. But appropriate for project examining migrant writing community from inside.
— Writer Julia Zolotova
