MEMORY
synopsis
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 – neighbors 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, Sandu 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?
| international title: | Memory |
| original title: | Memory |
| country: | France, Netherlands |
| sales agent: | Loco Films |
| year: | 2025 |
| genre: | documentary |
| directed by: | Vladlena Sandu |
| film run: | 98’ |
| screenplay: | Vladlena Sandu |
| cinematography by: | Liza Popova |
| film editing: | Vladlena Sandu |
| art director: | Daria Litvinova |
| producer: | Yanna Buryak |
| co-producer: | Ludovic Henry, Raymond Van Der Kaaij, Kirsi Saivosalmi |
| production: | Limitless, Revolver Amsterdam |
Photogallery 27/08/2025: Venice 2025 - Memory
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© 2025 Isabeau de Gennaro for Cineuropa @iisadege






























