On March 11, Odessa Rae met up again with Yulia  Navalnaya in a major European city she preferred not to name, for security reasons. The producer of Daniel Roher's film Navalny, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2023, had not seen the Russian opposition figure since the death of her husband, Alexei Navalny, in a Russian prison on February 16. On that day, the two women in their 40s, who grew close during filming in 2021, intended to share a cup of tea before going for dinner at the home of mutual friends. "We also talked at length about a strategy for the future," said Rae by phone from the back of a car in the Swiss mountains.

Less than a month earlier, on February 19, Navalnaya had announced that she would continue her husband's fight against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

To accompany this new status as an opposition figure, her friend refused to see herself as an "advisor" to the widow, although she did confess "suggesting" ideas to keep the memory of this "fearless leader" alive. Thanks to her many contacts, notably in Hollywood, the producer is planning communication campaigns, media activities and even the organization of events in tribute to Navalny. "I relay every opportunity that can help the cause," said Rae. "I also consider myself like a member of the Navalny team."

Through her films, the former Canadian actress, now based in New York, finds herself at the center of global geopolitics. In addition to promoting Navalny, Rae is currently touring festivals with Hollywoodgate, a documentary directed by Ibrahim Nash'at, which followed two high-ranking members of the Taliban regime for a year, in a former CIA military base in Kabul, after the hasty departure of American forces in August 2021. At the same time, she is finishing the editing of a film on the Ukrainian government, which she followed for a year and a half after the Russian invasion in February 2022.

Rae doesn't just produce stories: Thanks to her contacts, she arranged the exfiltration of the Afghan translator hired for the film Hollywoodgate, threatened by the Taliban regime. He was granted political asylum in Germany.

More recently, like the famous Ukrainian producer Alexander Rodnyansky, involved in the unofficial talks between Russia and Ukraine, she acknowledged having played a role in the negotiations on a possible exchange of American prisoners in Russia, which could possibly have led to the release of Navalny before his death. This role, which goes far beyond the simple task of producing a film, raises questions for Rae: Has she become a character in the stories she tells? "I'm constantly walking a very fine line," she said.

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