Tesnota - Une vie à l'étroit
Kantemir Balagov
1998, Nalchik, the North Caucasus, Russia. 24-year-old Ilana works in her father's garage. One evening, her younger brother David and his fiancée are kidnapped, and a ransom demand delivered. In this close-knit Jewish enclave, involving the police is out of the question. How will the family raise the money to save them?
With : Daria Jovner, Olga Dragounova, Artem Tsypine, Nazir Joukov, Veniamine Kats
scénario : Anton Iarouch, Kantemir Balagov
image : Artem Emelyanov
son : Andreï Nikitin
montage : Kantemir Balagov
scénario : Anton Iarouch, Kantemir Balagov
image : Artem Emelyanov
son : Andreï Nikitin
montage : Kantemir Balagov
Production : Nikolai Yankin, Example of intonation (Alexandr Sokurov's Fund)
Edward Pichugin, Lenfilm Studios
Distribution: ARP
International sales: Wild Bunch
Edward Pichugin, Lenfilm Studios
Distribution: ARP
International sales: Wild Bunch
Kantemir Balagov was born in Nalchik in 1991, and in 2015 completed his Directing studies under Alexandr Sokurov at the Kabardino-Balkarian State University. To date, he has helmed the short films Molodoï echtchio (Still Young, 2013), Pervyjja (First I, 2015) and the documentary short Andyukha (2014). Tesnota, his first feature film, was presented in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, where it received the Fipresci Prize.
“What interested me was the question of the axiom whereby you must sacrifice yourself to save someone close. This is even more true in the Caucasus, it is even the first among axioms. For me it is a profound question: is it really humane to force someone to sacrifice themselves to save a loved one? This was the starting point for me to examine characters and situations… Of course, I had references in mind: Bresson's Mouchette or the Dardenne Brothers' Rosetta” (Kantemir Balagov).
“What interested me was the question of the axiom whereby you must sacrifice yourself to save someone close. This is even more true in the Caucasus, it is even the first among axioms. For me it is a profound question: is it really humane to force someone to sacrifice themselves to save a loved one? This was the starting point for me to examine characters and situations… Of course, I had references in mind: Bresson's Mouchette or the Dardenne Brothers' Rosetta” (Kantemir Balagov).