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 |