Carelia: Internacional con monumento

  • 90'
  • Spain
  • 2019

Trees are everything. In a settlement near the Russian-Finnish border, a traditional family keeps shamanistic rituals alive. The children play in the same forest where photos nailed to trees remind us of Stalin's bloody repression. Spirituality and politics meet in this intuitive montage of poetic impressions, historical material, nature shots, family scenes and probing testimony.

Alternating between the enchantment of a child’s gaze and critical essay, this is the first of a two-part series dedicated to Karelia. The traumatic history of this region, which once belonged to Sweden, still resounds. The father points to the massacre by Ivan the Terrible in 1570. A gnarled block of wood is reminiscent of Pan, god of nature, and panic. But there's also the long arm of Putin. The daughter of a historian, an activist who investigated mass graves for 20 years, describes how her father was arrested on the basis of a shady accusation.

Director
Andrés Duque
Premiere
World premiere
Country of production
Spain
Year
2019
Festival Edition
IFFR 2019
Length
90'
Medium
DCP
International title
Karelia: International with Monument
Language
Russian
Producer
Andrés Duque
Sales
Andrés Duque
Screenplay
Andrés Duque
Cinematography
Andrés Duque
Editor
Andrés Duque
Sound Design
Andrés Duque
Director
Andrés Duque
Premiere
World premiere
Country of production
Spain
Year
2019
Festival Edition
IFFR 2019
Length
90'
Medium
DCP
International title
Karelia: International with Monument
Language
Russian
Producer
Andrés Duque
Sales
Andrés Duque
Screenplay
Andrés Duque
Cinematography
Andrés Duque
Editor
Andrés Duque
Sound Design
Andrés Duque