TURN YOUR BODY TO THE SUN
The incredible life story of a Soviet soldier who was captured by the Nazis during WWII. His daughter Sana searches the past to understand her silent father. As she accompanies Sana in her journey, the filmmaker excavates film archives, to find traces of those millions of Soviet soldiers, who fell victim of two dictators: Hitler and Stalin. Through the technique of “re-appropriating the archive”, the filmmaker searches for the soul of the image, for those subtle remnants of those millions who were omitted from the narrative of the war. Softly, but determinately the film starts breaking sixty years of silence.
Dutch director Aliona van der Horst was born in Moscow. She began her career in 1997 with the much-acclaimed The Lady with the White Hat and since then has received multiple awards for most of her films. In many of her films, art and artists play an essential role. Her films are meticulously crafted, she melds intuitive-associative processes with essay and experimentation, paying a lot of attention to style, sound and rhythm.
Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival 2021
Biografilm Festival 2022
TURN YOUR BODY TO THE SUN (doc.)
Director: Aliona van der Horst
Country: Netherlands
Year: 2022.
Duration: 93’
Language: Russian
Cast: Sana Valiulina
Production: Docmakers, NTR, Südwestrundfunk (SWR)
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PROGRAMME: INTERNATIONAL SELECTION