Belarusian director Anastasiya Miroshnichenko is best known for her 2017 documentary Debut [+lire aussi :
bande-annonce
fiche film], about mothers serving long prison sentences while separated from their children. Similar motifs can be found in her latest film, Welded Together, which has just premiered at Sheffield Doc/Fest, where it won the Grand Jury Award for the International Competition (see the news).

Set in snow-covered North-Western Belarus, the film follows 21-year-old welder Katya, the only woman in the machine department of a communal farm. She lives in housing for farm workers and hangs out with Tanya, the only friend she has there. Through their conversation early on in the doc, one of the rare moments of exposition, we learn that after her father's death, Katya was taken away from her alcoholic mother, whose parental rights were revoked. But now, she has found her mum, and plans to join her and her new daughter, toddler Amina, in the nearby city of Brest.

Soon after she moves in, Katya realises that her mum is still drinking, often disappearing off on binges and leaving her to take care of Amina. Amina's father is never mentioned, but there are two of mum's drinking buddies who hang out at the place, one of whom is at times conscious enough for some barely sober babysitting. Having no one to rely on, and sometimes missing work when her mum doesn't come home, Katya looks for advice from a social worker. Even though the no-nonsense lady's notion that addiction is a choice has long been debunked, she is right: Katya can't help her mum if she doesn't want to be helped. She will just drag her down with her.

Katya is not a very expressive protagonist. We see her cry and sometimes laugh, but mostly, her face stays in what could be mistaken for a shell-shocked daze. However, her blue eyes convey a toughness necessary to survive in a harsh world, which she's had to build through her childhood trauma. Along with her unflinching drive to protect Amina, this provides more than enough for Miroshnichenko to use in order to build the full character of this strong, independent and determined young woman.

The relation between her two environments, the welding workshop and her mum's home, provides a potent background. The workshop is large and cacophonic, with a dozen men in dirty overalls moving, hammering, drilling and welding big pieces of metal. But Katya is liked, respected and supported by her co-workers, and the warmth and structure she receives there are what she lacks at home, a disarrayed and depressing backdrop of an alcoholic's life.

Pavel Romanenya’s cinematography is precise and sober, often framing the most intimate and emotional conversations behind doorframes or dirty windows. Almost the whole film seems to be happening during winter, with fields, city streets and buildings covered in snow. Along with the workshop’s grey-blue palette and the apartment’s yellow light, this provides a rich picture, supported by the steady rhythm of Kasia Boniecka and Stanislav Kalilaska’s economical editing. The subtly atmospheric score by Rui Reis Maia finds its counterpart in the emotionally multi-layered use of Verka Serduchka’s hit “Everything Will Be Alright”.

When it opens, Welded Together feels like a bleak, depressing film, and even though it partly is, Katya’s energy and the cuteness of Amina and her shenanigans with the family cat brighten it up. Though here, too, we have a reminder of trans-generational trauma, as the kid plays with glasses and empty vodka bottles.

Welded Together is a co-production between France’s Little Big Story, the Netherlands’ Witfilm and Belgium’s Stenola Productions. Lightdox has the international sales rights.