Did a National Geographic documentary produced by Adam Curtis titled "So-Called Ukraine: Last Days on Earth" premiere at a movie theatre in New York this August? No, that's not true: There is no such documentary. Adam Curtis has never worked on a National Geographic production. His last documentary series was "Russia 1985-1999 TraumaZone: What It Felt Like to Live Through the Collapse of Communism and Democracy," which premiered exclusively on BBC iPlayer on October 13, 2022. The last National Geographic documentary "Bobi Wine: The People's President" opened in theatres on July 28, 2023.
The claim appeared in a TikTok video (archived here) published on August 23, 2023 with a caption reading:
In New York, the presentation of the National Geographic documentary So-Called Ukraine: Last Days on Earth.
This is what the post looked like on TikTok at the time of writing:
(Source: TikTok screenshot taken on Wed Sep 6 18:48:46 2023 UTC)
A Facebook post dated August 22, 2023 also shared the false claim with the following caption in Bulgarian language, translated by Lead Stories staff:
So-Called Ukraine: Last Days on Earth - an apocalyptic film about Ukraine is advertised in New York. National Geographic film premiere is on August 24. One front row ticket, please.
(Source: Facebook screenshot taken on Wed Sep 6 20:08:32 2023 UTC)
There is no such documentary created by Curtis or National Geographic but a doctored video shared by a website known to promote pro Russian Propaganda. Adam Curtis has spent most of his career as a documentary producer for the BBC. He has lately worked on projects with Punchdrunk, an immersive theatre company; Massive Attack, a British trip-hop band; and Charlie Brooker, the creator of "Black Mirror. He's is currently working on "The Way", a drama co-created by Michael Sheen and James Graham which is expected to arrive on BBC One in 2024.
