30/08/2024 - VENICE 2024: The Greek director outlines the mysterious syndrome affecting refugee children as well as other topics tackled in his film

(© Fabrizio de Gennaro/Cineuropa)

It’s 2018. When their daughter ends up in a coma, Sergei (Grigory Dobrygin) and Natalia (Chulpan Khamatova) are terrified – the so-called “child resignation syndrome” is apparently affecting refugee kids. Forced to flee their country, they apply for asylum in Sweden. They are turned down, while the authorities repeat the same words: “Don’t talk about the past, don’t mention asylum, and don’t talk about your problems or your anxiety.” We talked to Greek director Alexandros Avranas about his Venice Orizzonti entry Quiet Life [+see also:
film review
trailer
interview: Alexandros Avranas
film profile].

Cineuropa: Were you looking for new ways of talking about the refugee experience?
Alexandros Avranas: The most interesting part was this “child resignation syndrome”. In Greece, we hear about refugees every day – we see them, too. You can’t get tired of this subject, because we can’t get tired of human beings, but it continues to happen and makes you wonder what society is doing to these kids. Also, what does it really mean, to be a refugee? At some point, given what is happening to the environment, we might all become refugees.

I’ve never heard of that syndrome. You took it and exaggerated it, one assumes, making the whole thing feel like a sci-fi satire.
The first time, I also went: “Is that real?!” It’s like Sleeping Beauty all over again. It has been happening for decades now and in so many different countries, even during World War II, when people were losing all hope. It changes its form, but it’s there. It can also happen to kids who experience trauma at home.

In a way, it’s logical: your body goes into hibernation, protecting itself. But you also create this weird universe with its own rules and perennially smiling strangers.
“Don’t talk about the past, don’t mention asylum, and don’t talk about your problems or your anxiety.” It’s one of my favourite scenes because you don’t know if you should laugh or cry. It makes sense sometimes – when dealing with serious trauma, people can forget how to be parents. But how do you forget about asylum?! It was important not to judge, not to say anything was right or wrong, but there are some hard truths in this film.

It’s a familiar refrain: “They” have to “adapt”.
You shouldn’t have to forget about everything that makes you you. Because then what? You turn into some weird robot that is always smiling? We see that on social media a lot. Everyone smiles, but it’s fake. We don’t show what we’re really feeling, but this film tries to be honest. It tells this story in a pretty straightforward way.

Sometimes, when what we call “the system” doesn’t give you any other option, you have to be fake. You have to lie. They are not bad – they are just trying to exist. There was a big debate as to whether these kids are really sick or if they are faking it. For a long time in Sweden, some were trying to prove it. But it’s the system itself that’s creating this syndrome! They promise you paradise, you build your entire life there, and then suddenly it’s over, finito. Paradise turns into hell again.

You mention which territories are the most susceptible to this syndrome. I guess that’s how you decided where this family would be from?
Most cases can be traced back to Russia. In 2018, which is when the film is set, we still saw it as a relatively normal country. But there was already this pushback against certain liberties and the prosecution of minorities. They could be Russian, they could be from Syria, from Ukraine. They could come from any country where there’s a serious conflict. Again, it’s set before the war, before the invasion started. And also, who would deny Ukrainian people asylum? It would be a completely different story.

It's an absurd world they are entering, but it’s not completely unrecognisable. How far did you want to go?
I am not a big fan of naturalism – after all, we see reality everywhere. But I didn’t have to overdo it, because this disease was already the oddest element in the film. I guess you could call this movie minimalistic, and no wonder – I mean, have you been to Ikea? I was also influenced by Kafka. Whenever I read him, I think of emptiness and coldness.

It was hard to find the right aesthetic at first, but it does feel like the identity of this family is being erased as well. You get to hear one song in their language because they are supposed to forget their past anyway. They want to – they are willing to start a new life. Still, there is hope here because there’s anarchy in what these parents are doing. I don’t know what “the message” of this film is, but freedom is one of them.