by Michel Hazanavicius
The parents of nine-year-old Hadji are brutally murdered by Russian soldiers before his very eyes. The year is 1999, and the second Chechen war is forcing thousands of people to flee. Hadji manages to place his little brother with a family and get himself to a refugee camp. Sent to an orphanage, Hadji meets the NGO employee Carole. This dedicated French national is able to make only very rudimentary contact with the seemingly autistic boy. Hoping she may be able to motivate the UN authorities to intervene in Chechnya, Carole wants to document the fate of Hadji clearly and precisely. Simultaneously, Hadji’s older sister Raissa sets out in search of her brother. Director Michel Hazanavicius (THE ARTIST) updates the plot of the 1948 Academy Award-winning Swiss film production of the same name.