Babai
The Babai is the night-time bogeyman for children: traumas determine who you are, according to this claustrophobic portrait of two Russian brothers.
65'
Russia
IFFR 2020
The Babai is a Slavic folkloric figure used by parents as an educational threat. Children who get up at night are kidnapped by this mysterious creature, parents tell them, hoping their little ones will stay in bed. Russian director Artem Aisagaliev adopts the grim undertone of this fairy tale to illustrate the fear and trauma inextricably linked to aging.
His claustrophobic feature film is about young brothers Mark and Gesha, who live with their father. The tense close-ups depict scenes from a childhood characterised by discipline and humiliation. Although the images and situations are extremely realistic, almost documentary in nature, Aisagaliev uses the boys’ lives allegorically: from the initial, pitch-black shots to the lights dying out at the end, this is a story about the cycle of a life marked by trauma.
IFFR 2020
Programme IFFR 2020
A selection of fifteen feature-length debut films, presented at IFFR in world or international premiere.
Read more about this programmeThe Babai is the night-time bogeyman for children: traumas determine who you are, according to this claustrophobic portrait of two Russian brothers.
65'
Russia
IFFR 2020
1934. Bolivia is at war with Paraguay. Led by a mercenary German general, native soldiers push ever deeper into the hostile Chaco region.
77'
Bolivia
IFFR 2020
By day, Koki is a nice tourist guide in Guatemala City, but at night he lures men to a hotel – where they are relieved of their property.
75'
Guatemala
IFFR 2020