Vladlena Sandu studies her traumatic memories of the war in Chechnya to transcend and transform them via cinema.

Six-year-old Vladlena moves from Crimea to Grozny following her parents’ divorce, unaware that war will soon consume her childhood. As the Soviet Union collapses, the Chechen Republic fractures. Her Russian-speaking friends flee while deported Chechens return, reclaiming their homeland. Tensions escalate, and an armed conflict erupts. Violence engulfs the city – neighbours are murdered, her family is targeted, and Grozny becomes a battlefield. After four years of war, her mother is gravely wounded, and an armed attack forces Vladlena to flee, becoming a displaced person in Russia.

In this autobiographical poetic hybrid film, Vladlena revisits her traumatic childhood memories to confront a haunting question: How can the cycle of violence that shapes children and is passed through generations be broken?

The film was the opening film of the Venice Film Festival’s side programme Giornate degli Autori.